Harry Potter and the Awakening of the Heir
by houdinishideaway
Summary: (Complete! Finished!) after the end of 4th year, Harry meets the girl of his dreams BUT SHE'S PERCY'S GIRL! Major secrets are told. lovetriangleromancemild angsthumoradventure
1. Return to Privet Drive

Chapter One  
"Return to Privet Drive"   
  
Harry Potter was quite unhappy about being back at Privet Drive with the Dursley's for his summer holidays, but it seemed to him that he didn't have much choice in the matter. Especially after the terrifying near death experience he had just had only a few weeks ago. But as Harry knew, there were many in things in life that you just had to do, even though you'd rather not do them at all.   
  
It was early one July morning when young Harry awoke. He didn't really want to be awake. He had been having a wonderful dream. A nice dream, a pleasant dream. It wasn't often that Harry had happy dreams anymore. But of course after having an experience like Harry had, it could be expected that your dreams would be filled with quite unpleasant things. But this dream, it had been, well, rather cheery. As he slowly woke, he fought to remember the dream. He had that same dream a few times since he had returned to Privet Drive, and each time the details of the dream kept escaping him. There had been a young girl......yes, he could remember that much.......a very beautiful girl in fact, close to his own age..........she had long auburn colored hair..........and green eyes specked with silver. Yes, Harry did remember her eyes very well. They were most definitely green. Harry himself had green eyes, but he had never seen eyes like the ones that belonged to this dream girl. Her eyes were like gemstones, they were sparkling emeralds that shun brightly in the light. He was with the girl. And they were together in a beautiful place...a flower garden......Sitting under an a tall old oak tree....They were talking and he said something to make her laugh, but he didn't remember what it was that he had said. And her laugh.......her laugh sounded like the soft tinkle of bells and porcelain china. Her finest feature was her smile, a smile that even only in a dream, could melt his heart. But he didn't know her, she was just a fragment of his imagination, just part of a silly meaningless dream. The more Harry tried to remember his dream, and more about the girl, the more he forgot. And he slowly became even more awake and alert. He didn't want to be awake. He still wanted to be asleep, lost in that dream. He wanted to see that girl again. Such an interesting girl, he thought.   
  
It wasn't as if there was nothing interesting about Harry, of course. No, he had a life full of a lot more interesting things that he wished. Lately he wished that he was a lot less interesting, and led a much more boring and normal life. As Harry, rubbed his forehead sleepily, he knew he could never live an ordinary life anymore. Lord Voldemort had returned to power. But he didn't need to think about that right now. Anymore, the very thought of Voldemort and his return to strength made the lightning bold shaped scar on his forehead twinge.   
  
All was quite at the Dursley's house. Harry picked his glasses off of his beside table and put them on. As his room came into full focus, Harry looked over at the new watch that was sitting next to his watch. Sirius, his godfather, had sent it to him as early birthday gift. Sirius had sent him his present to him early, because he didn't know how he was going to get it to him on his real birthday. He would be spending the following week, including his birthday, at Mrs. Figg's house while the Dursley's spend the week on holiday in Paris. Harry was not looking forward to it. His friends at Hogwarts wouldn't even be able to send him a card, because Mrs. Figg would probably not like owl post. He remembered all too well the times that he had spend in Mrs. Figg's home while the Dursley's went somewhere they didn't want to be bothered with by Harry. Of course, they didn't want him around most of the time, but all the same, he was much less welcome when there was fun to be had. Harry's future look very bleak. He didn't want to spend his next week in Mrs. Figg's house, looking at photos of all her cats, and eating moldy stale chocolate cake. But he didn't have a choice in the matter. Harry, naturally, ask Uncle Vernon is he might spend the week at The Weasly's home, after all, he knew they would be happy to have him there. However, the memories of the Weasly twins leaving Ton Tongue Toffees for the Dudley to find, and Arthur Weasly blowing up the living room, they were not too keen on having the Weasly's coming to get him. And we Harry suggested that he stay with Hermione, Uncle Vernon roared in anger, complaining that Harry never appreciated anything they did for him, and sent Harry up to his room without supper.   
  
Suddenly, Harry was distracted from his thoughts by flashing colorful lights. Harry sprung up from his bed, and looked at the window. Now he could see that the flashing lights were colorful fireworks. They were much prettier and larger than the Filibuster fireworks that Fred and George Weasly were so fond of. These free works were bright shimmering shades of blue and red, and dazzling silver streaks. They appeared to be shot up into the air somewhere near by. The strangest thing about them was that they were silent. Normally fireworks, especially ones that large made some noise, but these fireworks were silent. Harry had a strange feeling that only he, and the people that were shooting them off could see them. Harry sat and watched them thru his window for awhile They were very pretty, and he although he had a lot of negative things going on in his life at the time, the beautiful fireworks made him feel happy. When they had finished, Harry checked off July 4 off of the calendar hanging on his wall. Once again, he was counting the days until his return to Hogwarts. Then he put his glasses back on his bed side table, and went to sleep for a couple more hours. He had a very happy dream about the same mystery girl, only this time she was wearing a shiny pale pink dress, but when he woke up he didn't remember a thing.  
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That morning at breakfast, Harry found himself frowning into another slice of grapefruit. Dudley was on his diet again this summer. Although last summer Dudly managed to lose several pounds by surviving on nothing but fruit and celery sticks, once he got back to his own school, he started bullying the other kids so that he could take their sweets, and now he was in the same trouble he was in last summer.   
  
On this particular morning, Dudley managed to wolf down his entire grapefruit in own gulp.   
  
"Don't I get anything more to eat?" Dudley whined. "I'm going to starve to death at this rate. I'll be nothing but bones come September!"   
Well, Dudlkins, your father and I talked about it, and we decided that you can go off your diet while we are vacationing in Paris. It wouldn't be much a holiday if you had to miss out on all the good things to eat." Aunt Petunia said.   
Dudley beamed.   
"And you had better behave yourself when your at old Mrs. Figg's house next week." Uncle Vernon growled at Harry. "You had better not mention anything about that, that, that ruddy school you go to! And if you do, I'll lock you in the cupboard under the stair until it's time for you to go back. I may not even let you out then!"   
  
"I won't say anything to her, I promise." Harry replied. And he defiantly planned on keeping that promise. Why would he want to tell Mrs. Figg's, anyway? That crazy old cat lady might want him to use magic to curse all her cat's fleas off or something like that!   
  
Then Harry had a very unpleasant thought!   
  
"I still don't know why I can't stand at Ron's house like I did last summer! His family would love to have me there again." Harry added. He knew Uncle Vernon wouldn't let him go to Ron's, but it didn't hurt to ask. And maybe if he pestered him long enough, he would finally give in and let Harry go, but it didn't look like today was the day.   
  
"Oh, yeah, just what I want." Uncle Vernon said sarcastically, rolling his eyes around in his ugly head. "That lot coming back here to blow up the house again!" he roared.   
  
Harry wished he never said anything as Uncle Vernon continued. He did his best to ignore Vernon's comments as he ate some more of his grapefruit. He caught a few words such as "so ungrateful", and "the nerve of that boy- doesn't he appreciate anything we do for him?".   
  
After breakfast Harry went upstairs to his room. He found Hedwig sitting on his bed with a note for him from Ron. He picked up the note as Hedwig nipped his finger affectionately, and then went to eat some food from her cage.   
  
Harry-  
Are the Muggles still making you stay at your neighbor's house while they go on vacation? They can't do that! I mean, it's really unfair. You have to come stay with us. Mum and dad really want you here, especially with what happened last year. Ask them again if you can come. If the Muggles say no again, I'll ask dad to go and get you. I'm sure he will do it. You can't stay at your neighbor's house, especially on your birthday!!!!!! Hermione is really worried about you too. She thinks that You-Know-Who is watching after you, and she thinks you would be much safer with us than spending a week with one elderly old smuggle! She's driving me crazy! I've been using Errol to send her owls everyday, trying to tell her that everything will be alright, but she is really worried. I almost feel sorry for Errol. Between the two of us, Errol has to go on lots of journeys everyday. I think he's going to be sick! I wish Hermione would get her own owl instead of wearing mine out! Maybe her parents will buy her one. She's been made prefect, you know.   
Write back right away!  
Ron   
  
Ron defiantly was not very happy about Hermione being a prefect. He mentioned it in almost every letter he sent to her. Harry, of course, was quite happy for Hermione. Who would be a better prefect than Hermione, anyway? Harry guessed that with two brothers who were prefects and Head Boy, a brother who was Quiditch captain, and one best friend who was famous, a Quiditch player, and the Hogwarts champion, Ron didn't want his other best friend getting anymore glory or attention.   
Harry personally thought Ron was being stupid as he quickly scribbled out a reply. He did not want any of the attention he got, well, except for Quiditch. He didn't want to be famous, he would much rather have his parents around, and not have to worry about Lord Voldermort coming to after him. And as far as him being school champion, well, he was only one of the two champions. Cedric Diggory was the other one, but Voldermort had coldly murdered him. Harry never even wanted to be compete in the Triwizzard tournament, but someone else put his name in the Goblet of Fire, so he did not get a choice.   
  
  
Ron-  
I'd much rather stay at your house, but my uncle and aunt are making me stay at Mrs. Figg's. I'm sorry but they are not giving me any choice about it. Don't send your dad or mum to come for me. it would probably make the Dursley's really really mad! Will you take care of Hedwig for me until I get back? I can't have her at Mrs. Figg's and she cant stay here alone with nobody to take care of her. When I get back from Mrs. Figg's, I'll call Hermione, and she will tell you to send Hedwig home.  
  
tell your family I said hello.  
Harry  
  
  
Deciding that his note would satisfy Ron, he tied it to Hedwig's foot. "You will have to stay at Ron's for a while." he told her. Hedwig looked insulted. "I don't want you to go, Hedwig, but you have to. You can't go the Muggles house. She'll never understand why I have a pet owl, and she will think I'm nutters. And you can't stay here alone because nobody will be here to take care of you."   
  
Hedwig looked at him with a look of the highest insult. To Harry, it seemed that she clearly thought she would be able to take care of herself. "Just go." he told her, stroking her head. "Be careful." he told her as she flew out the window. Harry watched her until she vanished into the distance, camflaged among the snowy white clouds. Harry was very sad to see her go. He wouldn't see her again until after his birthday. If Harry couldn't see his friends on his birthday, he at least wished that he could have someone friendly near him, and his pet owl seemed to be the only friendly living thing near by.   
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The next few days went by very fast for Harry, and before he knew it, it was the morning that the Dursley's were leaving for holiday in Paris, and he would be leaving for a week of Mrs. Figg. The Dursley's were eating the usual breakfast of grapefruit, when Harry thought of something.  
  
"....Er,,,,how am I going to get to Mrs. Figg's house?" he asked.   
"Mrs. Figg volunteered to come over and pick you up in her car." Uncle Vernon said. "Nasty old car she has." he added as an after thought. Uncle Vernon loved to judge other people on the size and cost of their cars. "An old rusty thing. Pepto-Bismol pink. I wouldn't be caught dead riding in such a strange old car. But I won't be riding in it, you will be boy." Uncle Vernon said. He twisted his mustache in his finger and laughed a menacing laugh directed at Harry. "A car like that belong in the junkyard. But I guess she is waiting to buy a new one until after you leave. I, personally, wouldn't want a weirdo like you riding in my new car."   
At this, Dudley snickered, his huge bottom dropping over the kitchen chair, wobbled, causing the whole dinning room to vibrate a bit. Dudley seemed to be quite amused by the thought of Harry riding around in a rusty punk car with the neighborhood crazy cat lady.   
Harry did his best to ignore them. After all, he wouldn't have to see them for a whole week, and although he'd have to go to Mrs. Figg's smelly old house, she was always much nicer to him than his relatives. Harry had much more important things to think about, anyway. Like the dream he had that night. Once again, he dreamed of the same mysterious girl. She was just as beautiful as always. Same auburn hair, same green eyes specked with silver, same bewitching smile. This time, Harry remembered she was wearing a black t-shirt, and a pair of dark denim blue jeans. In his dream,. she was sitting under a tall tree, her back against the tree trunk. She was smiling at Harry. Then Harry had said something that made her laugh, but he didn't know what he had said. He wished he could remember. If he could remember what he said, maybe the next time he dreamed of her, he could make her laugh again. Harry liked it when she laughed. It made his insides feel warm.   
It was Aunt Petunia who awoke Harry from his thoughts. She told Harry that he had better go upstairs and bring down the two bags he was taking to Mrs. Figg's house. Then Uncle Vernon reminded Harry that he was forbidden to take anything that had anything to do with magic with him. After promising that he wouldn't try "any funny stuff", Harry went upstairs to his room to get the two bags that contained nothing but clothing to wear in the next week.   
  
As Harry was carrying his bags down the stairs, he heard the door bell ring.   
"Get down here, now boy!" Uncle Vernon roared. "It's bloody time for you to go!"  
Harry rushed up to the door, and saw the person standing at the other side of it. It wasn't Mrs. Figg's. "......Whoa!", was all that he could manage to say.   
The beautiful girl in Harry's dream was standing on his door steps.   
"This is Katrina Figg, she's Mrs. Figg's grand daughter." Uncle Vernon explained. "Mrs. Figg's car is broken down, so she had Katrina walk over here to get you and help you carry your bags."  
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	2. 

Author's Note:  
  
I just wanted to take a second to thank everyone who is reading this story, and who is reviwing. I appreciate it very much!  
  
I also want to ask you to ignore my typos!   
  
Thanks!- Amanda 


	3. Katrina Figg

Chapter Two  
"Katrina Figg"  
  
"Your, your, your Mrs. Figg's granddaughter!" Harry said, choking on his words. He looked at the girl called Katrina Figg.   
  
She was identical and every bit as beautiful as the girl that Harry had been dreaming about. She was tall, an inch or two taller than Harry, with very long legs. She had a sweet face, and big emerald green eyes with speckles of silver, and long, dark curly eye lashes. Her eyes were perfect, and seemed to twinkle almost mischievously. She had long auburn colored hair that flowed loosely down to her waist. Her hair was wavy with big loose curls. Her curls were nothing like those of Hermione Granger. Hermione had curls that were sort of frizzy, very bushy, and messy. But Katrina's curls were loose, neat, and more of a wave than a curl. Her hair was looked very sleek and shiny, and Harry wondered if it was as soft as it looked. She smiled at Harry, a great big smile that allowed Harry to see that she had perfectly straight, ivory white teeth. Her lips looked as if they were very carefully painted dark red with a shiny lip gloss. She wore a short, bright red dress that fell just touching her knees. The dress was the same color as her lipstick, and did not clash with her hair. It was decorated with several silver stars of all sizes that began at her right shoulder and fell in a diagonal line at her left knee. The short dress showed off her long lean legs, and strappy matching red leather scandals, with had a single huge cloth rose on the clasp. The only jewelry that she wore was a long golden colored chain, made of very fine and very expensive looked antique gold that fell down the inside of her dress. She was absolutely dazzling and Harry felt that he could not take his eyes off of her.   
  
Katrina smiled at him, and nodded her head. "Yep." she said. "I'm her granddaughter."   
  
"I didn't know that old Mrs. Figg had a granddaughter." said Aunt Petunia who did not bother to hide the disgust on her bony horse shaped face. Aunt Petunia prided herself on knowing everything that happened in the neighborhood and all of her neighbor's business, and the fact that Mrs. Figg, a neighbor whom they had dumped Harry off with so many times, had a stunning young granddaughter near her son and nephew's age, was an insult and nasty shock to her. "In fact, I didn't even know that Mrs. Figg had any children at all!" Aunt Petunia added, sounded like she was most desperate to get the scoop on her neighbor.   
  
"Well, yes, my Grandmother has children, of course." Katrina said, taken back by Aunt Petunia's interest in her family history. "She has two daughters, in fact. My Aunt Isabella, who lives in Florida, and my mother."  
  
"I never have seen your mother. Does she visit often?" Aunt Petunia asked.   
"No, she is dead." Katrina said, looking like she would rather not talk about this. "She and my father died when I was two years old. I have been living with my Aunt and her family in the USA since then."   
  
All was silent. Nobody seemed to know what to say to this. Harry looked at the girl with astonishment. Her parents were dead too, Harry thought. She didn't even know them. They died when she was only two years old. Just like him, except his parents died when he was only one. And she was sent to live with her aunt, and there family. Just like him. Harry was very surprised and, even though he was very ashamed to admit it, intrigued by what he had in common with this mysterious girl. Maybe his time at Mrs. Figg's house would not be so bad after all.   
  
"You're an American?" Aunt Petunia asked, breaking the silence. Her curiosity seemed to get the best of her manners. Harry supposed that she had never met an American before and was a bit curious.   
  
"Well, in a way, I am." Katrina said. A silent grin came to her face, and she seemed much more keen on discussing this topic than her dead parents. "I am British born, as are my parents, and grandparents, and all my Aunts and Uncles. Well, the ones that are related to me by blood, anyway." she added with a grin.   
  
"Aunt Isabella met her American husband when he came to London on vacation. They fell in love and got married a week after they met, and she went back to his home in Florida with him to start a new life. They have two daughters there who are about the same age as me. When my parents died, I needed someone to take care of me. All of the relatives on my father's side were already dead, so they could not take care of me. And I was quite a mischievous and boisterous little child, so my grandparents couldn't care for me. So, they send me to live with Aunt Isabella and Uncle Joey in Florida. They were happy to have me there, and since they already had two daughters of their own the same age, I was no more trouble. I lived in America all my life. Even was given American citizenship, as they adopted me, and became my legal guardians. But I'm British born. My family decided that I was to go to come to Britain this year, to stay at my Grandmother's house during the summer, and now I am going to go to the boarding school that my parents attended this September."   
  
When Katrina finished her story, the Dursley's stared on at her. It was doubt to Harry, that they were wondering whether or not these relatives of her would like to adopt Harry as a son, since he would be near Katrina and her cousin's age. They were also probably wondering how they could be so keen to have Katrina as another child when they certainly never wanted Harry, and only kept him because, well, Harry didn't know why they kept him when he could be sent off to an orphanage. Harry never asked them this question, thinking maybe that if he gave them the idea, they would send him off to an orphanage.   
  
"Well, best to get going." Katrina said with her brilliant green and silver eyes sparkling. "My grandma is waiting for us. Don't want to keep her waiting. Might think something happened to us. Can I carry one of your bags for you, Harry? They looked mighty heavy, and even though it's only two streets down, it's a pretty long walk when your carrying two heavy bags."  
  
"Uh, no. That's quite alright." Harry stammered. "I can carry them. They aren't heavy at all."   
He defiantly did not want Katrina to think he was weak, and unable to carry his things, and he picked up his bags and headed to the door. "Well, er, uh, goodbye, everyone." he said to the Dursley's with a wave. They did make any kind of response to him, looking all too happy to be getting rid of Harry.   
  
Katrina opened the door for him, followed Harry outside, and then shut it behind her.   
  
"Man." she said shaking her pretty head. "Your Aunt is just about the nosiest Muggle I've ever seen!" 


	4. Monsters of Merlin

Chapter Three  
"Monster's of Merlin"  
  
  
"What did you just say!?" Harry exclaimed! "Did you just call my relatives Muggles?  
"Hope your not offended." Katrina said with a coy smile, and she turned on her heels and began walking out of the the Dursley's driveway. Harry dashed forward to catch up with her.   
"Er, no, that's not what I meant." Harry said. "If you know what Muggles are then you must be.."  
"A witch?" Katrina said finishing his thought for him. Harry nodded.   
Katrina smiled. "Yes, I am a witch."  
Harry stopped walking at stood in place gaping at her.   
Katrina seemed to expect Harry's bewilderment. She flashed another sweet smile at Harry, causing him to feel a little wobbly in the ankles.   
"My grandmother told me that you didn't know she was a witch. She said you'd probably be surprised to find out about her."   
Harry continued to stand there, feeling quite foolish, but yet totally thunderstruck. How could Mrs. Figgs, the crazy old cat lady from two streets down be a witch and how could Harry not know about it?  
Katrina looked in Harry's eyes, making him feel as if she could see right into his soul. He had a funny feeling that Katrina already knew him somehow, but that couldn't be true. He had never met a girl like her, and Harry knew that if a he had ever seen a girl that beautiful, he would have certainly never forgotten about her. Then as if she really could see into Harry's thought, she opened her well glosses lips and told him the answers he wanted to know.  
"Well, you'd never been to see my Grandma since you found out you were a wizard, that'd be about four years or so ago? And she certainly could not tell you that she was a witch before you received your Hogwarts letter. Nobody knew whether or not your relatives told you about the magic world. You probably never would have believed her." Katrina said. "You would have thought she was insane, and probably told your Aunt and Uncle. They, of course, knew all about everything, and would have been quite appalled to find out there was a witch living so near by. Would have causes a great deal of distress, for you, your relatives, my Grandma, and the Ministry of Magic."  
"And Mrs. Figgs?" Harry asked. "She really is your grandmother?"  
"Yep. She sure is." Katrina answered. "All that stuff I said at your Aunt and Uncle's house? Well, it's all true."   
Harry nodded. Katrina suggested that they had better start walking again, otherwise, they would never make it back to the Figg's House. Harry laughed and they started to walk in silence. The silence was all right with Harry. His mind was swarming with information and questions that he was dying to ask this mysterious young woman. But he didn't know if they were polite questions to ask, and what Katrina might think of him for asking them.  
Katrina was just like him, Harry thought. If she was a witch and her Grandmother was a witch, especially being Harry's neighbor, then Katrina must know all about him. All wizards and witches did. It wasn't far, Harry decided. It wasn't fair that she should know so much about him, and he not know nothing but a few scraps of information about him.   
"You said your going to go to school here?" Harry asked. "The school your family went to. Is it Hogwarts?"  
She nodded her head and gave Harry a very strange look. In her green eyes, Harry saw the streaks of silver flash with what he guesses to be excitement and some fear.  
"Yes, I am going to be starting at Hogwarts this September." she replied.  
"Er...you don't look like a first year."  
She laughed. "Very funny, Harry. No, I'm going to be a fifth year."  
"Oh." said Harry. He could feel the blood pumping in his veins at the very thought of it. "That's what year I'm in. What House are you going to be in?"  
Katrina shrugged her shoulders as they passed a yard where several children were yelling at their Beagle. Apparently, a scraggly looking black cat had wondered uninvited to their yard, and the Beagle was barking madly, as if to tell that cat that it could go back to wherever it came from. The children yelled at the Beagle to be quiet, the barking was so loud that it was painful to listen to, and the kids seemed to not want the dog to attack the cat, who had run up on top of a fence pole for safety. Katrina and Harry watched them as they walked on by. Then, she continued their conversation.  
"I don't know what House I will be in." she said. "But my grandma has spoken with the Headmaster, and he told her that after all the First Years are sorted, then he will make a special announcement to the school about me. You know, tell them who I am, where I am from, and then I will be sorted into my new house."   
"It sounds like you have everything figured out." Harry said, not really knowing how to reply. "Any idea what House you will be in?"  
She shook her head, making her loose curls bounce in the slight breeze. "I don't know much about the Houses." she said, stepping over a soda can some person had left on the sidewalk. "Could you tell me about them?"  
Harry was too eager to share everything he knew about the four houses. He told her about the traits that each house stood for, what the students of each house were like, the mascots of each house, he compared the Quiditch teams, and told about his experiences and general opinion with students of each house. Katrina was silent while he talked, with signs of great interest written all over her face.   
Then she looked at him glumly, and said, "I bet I'll be in Slytherin."  
Astonished, Harry stuttered, "Er...why.. would you..er.. be in Slytherin?"  
With a bleak look in her eyes, Katrina shrugged her shoulders.  
"Oh, no reason in particular." she said quickening her pace. "We should be getting to my grandma's house soon. Let's walk a little faster."  
Harry followed Katrina, not speaking, wondering why she didn't want to talk to him anymore.   
When they arrived at Mrs. Figg's house, and entered the door, Harry was overwhelmed with the strong smell of cats that always seemed to reside there. Looking around the living room, Harry saw that it looked the same as he had remembered it. The only thing that was different, was the knowledge that the woman who owned the home was a witch.  
Just then, Mrs. Figg Apprated in the middle of the room. Knowing that she was magical, she seemed to appear to be more lively and healthy than the last time Harry had seen her. She was a short, skinny old woman, with silver hair that she wore up in curls, like the typical old lady fashion. She wore a white t-shirt with the picture of a tabby cat playing with a ball of string, and black cotton pants with old white slip-on shoes. She wore big golden metal colored classes, with thick lenses that took up a lot of her wrinkled face.   
"Well, hello, Harry, dear. Good to see you." she said giving Harry a warm   
smile. "I see that Katrina got you here in one piece."   
"Er...yes, she did." Harry said feeling stupid.  
"Well, that's good then. Wouldn't want her to blow you up or do anything funny, would you? My granddaughter may look like she's all sweet and innocent like, but I've seen her to do some wicked curses." Mrs. Figg said.   
Harry looked at Katrina. She was standing next to the television stroking an obviously old, but still bright yellow owl that was perched on top of it carrying a note. Harry scratched his head. He hadn't see the owl there a moment ago, and he had not heard an owl come in the room. If Katrina was going to put any wicked curses on someone, she didn't seem to be in the mood. She was softly speaking to the owl in a misty voice that people often reserved for cuddly animals or cute babies. Harry guesses she was praising the owl on making a good delivery or something like that.   
"You should have been here two hours ago, Harry." Mrs. Figg said bringing Harry back from his thoughts. "Katrina put a curse own my toaster before I got up to eat breakfast. When I went to turn it on, the toaster started shrieking, and burnt breadcrumbs up at me! Thought they were going to break my glasses, I did! And the noise that it was making, I thought for sure that the Muggles next door would have heard it. I am surprised that they didn't come running over to rescue me thinking a mad axe man was after me!"  
"I thought underage wizards and witches aren't allowed to use magic outside of school?" Harry asked.   
"Only British underage ones." Mrs. Figg said. "In America, underage wizards can do magic all they like."  
"But this is Britain!" Harry said.  
"Don't worry about it, Harry." Katrina said smiling at him. "We got it all taken care of with the Ministry and Dumbledore. I'm allowed to use magic this summer since I'm American and I am not officially enrolled at Hogwarts yet. But next summer, I won't be allowed."   
"Oh. Okay" Harry said wishing he could use magic this summer. Katrina was reading the note that the owl had been holding.   
"Accio Ink pen" she said. An ink pen came zooming into her hands. She flipped over the note in her hands, and began to write. At this, Mrs. Figg began to talk again.  
"Bloody brilliant, my granddaughter is." she told Harry with pride. "Can do any spell she sets her mind to. She likes to put curses on things. Oh, not harmful or dangerous curses." she said reading the look of horror on Harry's face. "Just silly little things, like the toaster. The other day she cursed all of the cat waste from the litter box onto the lawn when the milk man came. He had quite a messy pair of shoes, that one did. Of course Katrina thought it was just the funniest thing ever, but I bet his wife won't be amused when he tracks that mess into her carpet."   
Harry grinned. Maybe when the Dursley's get back, she could do that to there yard.  
The yellow owl flew out an open window, carrying Katrina's note.  
"That's Lemon Drop." she said to Harry.   
"What?" Harry said taken back.  
"That owl's name is Lemon Drop. He's an Apparition Owl." she answered.  
"Um. Okay...Er..What's an Apparition Owl?" he asked her.  
"It's an owl that Apprates." Katrina replied. Reading the look of confusion that still stood on Harry's face, she exclaimed to him how normal magic owls, like Harry's pet, were not able to take messages on really long journeys to places overseas. Apparition Owls were special owls that are highly intelligent, and highly trained to Apprate, that way they can make these trips.  
"He's kind of old." Katrina told him. "He was given to Grandma by someone, I can't remember who, when they got a new one. Oh wait! I remember who gave it to her! It was Uncle A-"  
"We have another Apparition Owl that you can use whenever you like, Harry." Mrs. Figg briskly interrupted, frowning at Katrina. "She's much younger than Lemon Drop, and very well trained. Bloody brilliant, that owl is."  
"Could I use that owl sometime today? I'd like to send an owl to my friend, Ron." Harry told her.   
"Of course you can!" Mrs. Figg said happily. "Coffee Bean!" she called.   
Almost as soon as the words had left her mouth, a brown colored owl flew down the stairs and landed on Mrs. Figg's shoulder using her as a perch. She was a large elegant looking owl, with creamy brown colored feathers, and big yellow eyes that shone magnificently.   
"Just write your letter, attach it to Coffee Bean's leg, and send her off. She's brilliant and quick as they come! She'll have an answer back from your friend in no time at all." Mrs. Figg said proudly. She seemed to take great pride in all of her owls, as well as the many cats that were sitting around all over the room. There were cats every which way. On the sofa, on the chairs, sending in flower pots breaking the stems off the plants.  
"You can go in the kitchen, Harry, and write your letter, so you have more privacy, and table to write at. There's paper and stuff in there." Katrina said to him, flopping down on the sofa.  
Harry nodded in gratitude and headed into the kitchen, with Coffee Bean flying after him. The kitchen looked like quite ordinary, except for the burnt bread crumbs that littered the floor. He said down at the table, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, and began his letter.  
  
Dear Ron,  
You won't believe what has happened! I'm at Mrs. Figg's house, and I found out that she's a witch! She's been hiding it from me all these years! I can't believe it! She's really nice too. A little strange, but really nice. She's letting me borrow her owls to send letters whenever I want. This Owl belongs to her. IT'S name is coffee bean. Isn't that a weird name for an owl?????   
oh, and you won't believe this part: she had a granddaughter, who is going to be a fifth year at Hogwarts. she's from America, and she's really friendly. could you please sent Hedwig back to me? I want to send a note to Hermione and sirus, letting them know what's going on.   
Harry  
  
  
Harry attached the note to Coffee Bean's leg, and watched the Mahoney colored owl fly away. Then Katrina came into the kitchen, holding both of his bags. He took one from her, and they walked up the stairs together, so that she could show him to the upstairs guestroom where he would be staying.  
************************************************************************  
The next day was a happy one for Harry. He liked being at Mrs. Figg's house. She was very nice to him, and she liked to make Katrina and Harry special little cookies and cakes to eat at meal times. A couple hours after he had sent a letter to Ron, he received one back from him, along with Hedwig, who was very happy to see him. In the letter, Ron told him that his owl, Pig, was bothering Hedwig, and he was glad to send her off because he was afraid there might be an owl fight. Harry quickly sent a letter off to Hedwig, telling her about the situation, and to Sirus, only he called him Snuffles in the letter because Mrs. Figg and Katrina did not know about Sirus, and they would surely be horrified to know that Harry had rescued him and was keeping contact with him as well.   
There were constantly owls coming in for Harry. Ron and Hermione were very curious about Katrina. Katrina had told him the previous day over tea that there had never been a student to transfer into Hogwarts, and the only new students to ever come were always just first years like everybody else. So Katrina would be the very first. She confided in Harry that she was very nervous about attending Hogwarts because it was very different from her old school, and she was worried about how she was going to make friends. Harry decided that any girl as pretty as Katrina was would have no problem making friends. Even though he had only met her the day before, Harry liked her right away, and they almost instantly became friends. She was very smart, funny, and creative. Katrina was also a very good musician. He had heard her sitting outside in the back yard in the grass by Mrs. Figg's flower garden that first evening there. She was strumming an old silver colored guitar, singing a sweet song in a resplendent voice that seemed to hang on the cool breeze of the evening air. Harry couldn't quite make out the words to her song, but he liked to stand there listening to her, as he stood just outside the back door. Her back was to him so she could not see him but Harry had a feeling that she knew he was there, and that she was singing a special song just for him.   
This day, his first full day at the Figg's home, was a pleasant day. He was pleased to find that although the first floor of the home looked like any ordinary one, the second story was clearly that of a wizard's. There all sorts of magical objects upstairs. There was a brilliant library filled with spell books and old text books, and research books on all topics that you could ever imagine, including both magical and Muggle subjects. There were novels and works of fiction that were written by Muggles, and ones that were written by witches and wizards. There were even some novels, poems, and tales that were written by magical creatures such as goblins, trolls, merpeople, giants, and Harry even found a short story written by Juko Tuko, a Japanese House-Elf. Harry wondered what a bookwork like Hermione would give to spend a day in the impressive private library of Mrs. Figg, a library that was much better and varied that Hogwarts. There were even books about Dark Arts, and unlike Hogwarts, he didn't have to get permission to take a look at them. Harry wondered why a nice woman like Mrs. Figg would have books on the Dark Arts, when he noticed a room filled with many Sneakscopes, a Foe-Glass, a Pensive, and several other strange objects.   
Mrs. Figg explained to a curious Harry, that she and her husband, Julian Figg had been Aurors. They were among the best Aurors in the world , and the Ministry of Magic paid them great sums of money to keep them working hard. When there daughters were very young, Julian Figg died in an on-the-job accident. Mrs. Figg was so grieve stricken that she could never be an Auror again because it would be just too hard to have to work without her husband/partner. She quit her job to concentrate on raising her two daughters, and the family lived on the great amounts of money that had in the bank  
from being high paid Ministry Officials.   
Harry noticed that when Mrs. Figg talked about her husband, and her two daughters, she spoke in a strange dire voice that didn't seem to suit her. Being an orphan, Harry knew that it was hard feeling like you didn't have any family, and poor Mrs. Figg had lost her husband, one daughter, and her other daughter lived across the world.  
But Harry did like being at the Figg's home. And Mrs. Figg and Katrina seemed to be very happy to have him there. Especially Katrina who liked to ask him questions about Hogwarts. That was okay with Harry. It was a pleasure just to be near her, and Harry liked to listen to her talk about her American Magic school.  
After eating a delicious breakfast of homemade blueberry pancakes, bacon, sausage, and home made biscuits, Harry spent his morning reading the story written by the House-Elf, while getting interrupted and distracted by the many owls that kept flying into the yard. Sometimes they were notes for him from Hagrid, Ron, Hermione, or Sirus, but most of the time they were for Katrina.  
Over a light but satisfying lunch of sandwiches, Katrina talked about the John Proctor North American School or Magic, the school she attended. It was quite different from Hogwarts. Being the only school in North America, the school accepted students from the USA, Mexico, and Canada. Since these people spoke three different languages, students were arranged into Groups, which sounded much like the Houses of Hogwarts, by the language that they spoke. Also, students don't start school there until there 12th birthday, unlike Hogwarts students starting at age 11. Students in America can do magic outside of school, and learn to Apprate at age 15, and take there O.W.L. tests a year earlier than Hogwarts students do. Katrina, who is 16 years old, was nervously awaiting the results of her tests. Also different from Hogwarts, students that lived near by the school, and students who can Apprate, don't have to board at the school. Katrina's family lived a 15 minute walk away from the school, mainly because her Aunt Isabella worked for the school before she toke up a job as the Head of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the North American Council of Magic.   
Harry also learned that Katrina was very popular at her school and had many friends, and quite a few admirers. She was sent many owls from hopeful young guys who wanted to hear from her, and invite her to return the USA for various parties and special events.  
Mrs. Figg was very annoyed by all her granddaughter's attention.  
"This one here." she said, obviously referring to Katrina. "This girl here knows she is something. And all those boys at Proctor School, well, they can't help but notice it too! A heartbreaker, this one is! Flirted with all the boys at the school, stealing their hearts, making them send Apparition Owls all the way here, desperate for a reply."  
"Oh, Grandma." Katrina sighed. "It's not like that at all. There just friends who want to keep in touch with me. Why does it matter if they send me Owls?"  
"Well, it does matter. Yes, it does to matter, Missy. I've got your number on that one, Young Lady. I most certainly do!" Mrs. Figg slowly and menacingly replied. "Don't you know that it costs those poor boys money to send an Owl from America? Most of those people don't have an Apparition Owl at home, so they have to go the nearest Magical Post Office, and use one of there's! And the going rate to England is 10 knuts round trip!"  
"Ten knuts is not a lot of money, Grandma." Katrina said.  
"Yes it is! It may not be a large sum of money to somebody like me. Goodness knows that I can afford it! And you, Kitty Kat, well, I know that your parents left you a very hefty fortune, but you should be much more considerate about other people and their money matters. A lot of families can't spare ten knuts so that their boy can send a letter off to a wicked heartbreaker like you. But no good Mother or Father could ever tell their sonny boy no, after they see that starry look in their eye, that look that you put there, Granddaughter. They think that your in love with them, they think that they've got a chance with you." Mrs. Figg said. She shook her head in disgust and then continued her sermon. "But they don't have a chance. Do they? Of course they don't. I can tell you that, myself! All you want is the attention!"   
Harry could feel himself going red in the face. He did not want to be there, having to listen to such a conversation. He was already getting a strange feeling in his chest every time he looked at Katrina, or heard her speak, and every time she said his name, he felt like he couldn't breathe. It reminded him of his feelings for Cho Chang, only his feelings were much more intense. The thought of Katrina flirting with guys was hard for him to hear. The very idea made him want to hit something. But he couldn't go around acting like that. It wasn't very mature, and with Katrina being one year older than him, if he wanted to keep her attention, and keep her friendly with him, he would have to try to act a little bit more grown up. He wanted to impress her. Maybe later he would tell her about his victories on the Quiditch team, but Katrina just didn't seem to be much interested in sports. She was interested in clothing. She liked to shop for and try on new clothing, and she had told Harry that she liked to put together interesting outfits. She also loved to design and sew her own clothing. She had told Harry that a lot of her wardrobe was the product of her own talent and imagination. But Harry, who's only clothing was the sweaters Mrs. Weasley sent him at Christmas, and Dudley's old much too baggy hand-me-downs, Harry didn't think he had much of a chance of starting out a conversation about clothes.  
The sound of Mrs. Figg's voice, ranting on and on about how Katrina was a devious little heartbreaker faded out for Harry, and he found himself lost in a sea of his own thoughts. He wondered how Mrs. Figg could blame Katrina for capturing the attention of teenage boys. She had certainly captured his! A girl as pretty as she was, well, Harry could imagine the reaction she'd get from the boys at Hogwarts. Especially, his best friend, Ron, would had a weakness for Vela and beautiful girls. Maybe Katrina was part Vela! That would certainly explain the hold that she seemed to have on him. All that night, he had dreamed of her. They were pleasant dreams, dreams of a beautiful garden, with ivy, and shrubs, and roses bigger than the palm of his hand. Harry had a strange feeling that he knew Katrina from somewhere, but he decided that must be impossible. He certainly would never have forgotten a girl like her.   
************************************************************************  
The next few days were among some of the happiest days of his life, certainly the best days he had ever had outside of Hogwarts, or Ron Weasley's house. Katrina and him were getting along famously. She had brought back from the USA, many American Wizard games, and Harry found them fun and interesting, and a much better changes that Exploding Snap. He also spend a lot of time watching WWWN (Wizards and Witches World News), special magical television channel that only witches and wizard homes could receive. Only wizards and witches, and their Muggle family members who lived in the house and knew about their existence could watch the channel. Anyone else would only see and hear static. They also listened to the Wizard Radio a lot. Harry got to hear a lot of song's by Katrina's favorite band, "Monster's of Merlin". The band was extremely popular and would be playing a concert in London on Harry's birthday. Harry really liked their songs, but he didn't consider himself to be as big of a fan as Katrina, who had been to many of their American concerts, and liked to wear the t-shirts all the time. Katrina already had six tickets to the show. Her two American cousins, Belinda and Brenda, were coming over to see the concert, along with three of their friends via Floo Powder. Harry was disappointed because that meant that Katrina would be gone for most of his birthday evening, and he have to stay home with Mrs. Figg. (Katrina's friends could drive.) But he was looking forward to meeting her American friends, who would be gathering at the house the day of the show. Katrina had spoken of them often, and they seemed like a really awesome group of people.   
  
Before he knew it, it was his birthday. Harry couldn't believe that he was 15 years old. He was awoken that morning by a stream of owls from his friends, all sending him a present and a card.  
Hermione had sent him a book called Fans of the Firebolt. It was a book about Harry's racing broom, including pictures, famous athletes who used that broom, statistics, and how to properly care for it. Hagrid had sent him a large tin of treacle fudge and several rock cakes. Sirus, who had already sent Harry a new watch for his birthday, sent Harry a Sugar-Quill, and a Chocolate Frog. Dobby the House-Elf sent him socks. The left sock had a lion, and the right sock had broomsticks on it. Mrs. Weasly had made him an Angel food birthday cake. Ron sent him a book entitled, How To Be The Best Seeker You Can Be When Your Already Pretty Good., along with a long note.  
  
Harry,  
I hope you have a really good birthday. Sounds like things are going well at Mrs. Figg's. That Katrina girl sounds really infesting. Maybe you'd better start thinking more about her and less than Cho Chang. I don't know how to tell you this, but I know I have go to. I saw Cho at Flourish and Blot's when I was buying your birthday present. She looked awful. Her face was all pale, and her eyes were all blood shot. She looked like she hadn't slept in days. I talked to her, and the whole time she looked like she would burst into tears at any moment. I guess seeing me made her think of you, and she probably can't think of you without thinking about what happened with Cedric. She told me that she has been having a real rough time of it. She misses him a lot. They had become really good friends.   
I know you don't want to hear this, but maybe you'd better forget about her for awhile. I don't think she's interested in anybody right now.  
Happy Birthday.  
Ron  
  
Well, that was a pleasant way to send off a birthday letter, Harry thought. The thought of Cho being so upset certainly tore at his heart strings, and made him feel pangs of guilt. He knew it wasn't his fault that Cedric was dead. But he could not help feeling guilty just the same. Harry did feel a little depressed that Cho was still thinking about Cedric. He still liked Cho very much, despite what had happened. He wanted her to think about him, not Cedric, but then knowing what had happened, he couldn't really blame her. Harry wondered what Cho thought of him. Maybe she thought that he killed Cedric, he knew a lot of the other students did. Harry still felt somewhat responsible for his death because he had asked Cedric to take the Cup with him, but he had to idea that the Death Easters that had turned it into a Port Key and that Voldermort was waiting for him.   
Cedric Diggory is dead, Harry told himself. He's dead and I can't do anything about him by feeling guilty and worrying. Today is my birthday, and I should have a good day, and not worry about that depressing stuff.   
  
  
Harry had a very pleasant breakfast that morning. Mrs. Figg made strawberry pancakes this morning, and for lunch she was going to make Harry a birthday cake and cook him anything he wanted. Whatever it was that he wanted, she would have to cook a lot of it. Katrina's friends would be coming around Noon.   
  
And it was noon when two blonde teenage sisters emerged from the fireplace. They were Katrina's cousins, Brenda and Belinda Parkerly. Harry recognized them from the many photos of the girls around the home. Mrs. Figg and Katrina had told Harry a lot about them.   
Belinda at 17 was the oldest. She was very tall, even taller than Katrina, and wore athletic looking clothes. She had very light blonde hair, so light it was almost white, that was pulled back into a loose ponytail. Her skin was very tan, and her face was dipped with freckles. Katrina had told her that Belinda was a Quiditch player, and a very good one. They did not have Quiditch teams at Proctor North American School of Magic, but Belinda was off to Quiditch Camps during the summer to perfect her skill as a Keeper.   
Brenda was 16 like Katrina. She was built much different from her sister. She was short, and slightly pudgy. She had blonde hair like her sisters, only she wore hers down in a trendy little shoulder bob. Katrina had told her that she was really into makeup, and Harry could recognize that interest at once. She was wearing bright pink lipstick, and heavy turquoise eye-shadow. She wore a neon pink silk top and a black mini-skirt that was too short and too tight for her figure.   
Both of the girls were very friendly, and they were quite excited when Katrina told them exactly who Harry was. They seemed very ecstatic at the prospect of meeting him, and Brenda seemed very jealous that he was staying under Katrina's roof.   
A few minutes later, two young guys emerged from the fireplace.   
Katrina introduced them to Harry as Arizona Brown and Drew Fordson. Harry already knew a lot about them because Katrina spoke of them often.   
Harry knew which boy was which. He had spent a happy afternoon a few days ago looking at Katrina's old photo albums. She told him stories about all of the people in the pictures, but many of them were of her cousins, and her their three closest friends: Drew Fordson, Arizona Brown and Lu Wanchester. Harry knew so much about those three boys he felt as if he had known them all his life.   
Eighteen year old Drew Fordson was about the average height for a male his age. Everything about Drew was golden. He had long stick straight golden hair that fell just above his earlobes. His eyes were a sky blue, and his skin was as golden as his hair. Even wore a golden colored long sleeve shirt. The right sleeve was rolled up past his elbow, while the left one seemed to keep slipping down on him. In dark black letters, his shirt said Seeker. Katrina had told him that he was two years older than her, and had graduated from school that year. Belinda Parkerly had become friends with him thru her Quiditch Summer Camp, where Drew was the Seeker on Belinda's team. That's how Katrina got to know him. Harry could tell that he was an excellent Seeker. Other Campers had taken photos of Drew catching the Snitch and flying, and Katrina had a few of them in her photo album. They were all quite impressive. According to Katrina, he was a very good students and had Top Grades in his Graduating Class.  
  
Sixteen year old Arizona Brown looked like a very friendly fellow. He was very tall, probably over six feet, and had a muscular built. He had very short brown hair, which was worn in little spikes. He had big brown eyes, and a splash of freckles across his very tan face. He wore blue denim shorts and an olive colored t-shirt that said "Monster's of Merlin" on it. Like Katrina, Arizona was really into music. He liked to play the guitar and the drums, and write songs. Katrina even had a little cassette tape of Arizona performing that Harry heard her play. She had told Harry that Arizona, who was actually from Kansas, that Arizona was Muggle born. Katrina told Harry that although Arizona was the one of the nicest people anyone who would ever meet, he was a little forgetful, and he can do things that are a little dumb.   
  
"Hey, where's Lu at?" Katrina asked Arizona and Drew. "I thought that he was supposed to come with you?"   
Arizona shook his head. "We haven't heard anything from him in weeks. We don't know what's going on. Nobody knows where he is. Not even the Witch and Wizard that are his foster parents. They said he ran away from home."   
"He ran away from home!" Katrina exclaimed. "He ran away from home! Why didn't someone tell me this! Where did he go? How long as he been gone?"  
"Relax, Kitty Kat." Arizona said to Katrina. "Everything is going to be fine."  
"Oh no things are not going to be fine! One of my best friends is missing, and my other best friends did not think it was important enough to tell me! Why didn't you not tell me the moment you knew he was missing? Don't I deserve to know these things!? What if something bad happened to him?!??" Katrina yelled, he face scrunched up in fury. Harry had to agree with her. He knew he'd be very mad if one of his good friends turned up missing and his friend's didn't ever tell him about it.  
"You don't need to worry." Drew said. "Honestly, you know how Lu is. He probably wondered off. He's a loner, you know."  
Belinda shook her head. "Lu is not really a loner, and you know it, Drew!" she said. "He has always been friends with us, and a part of little group. He's like family!"  
"Did you know that Lu was missing?" Katrina snapped, turning her heels at her cousins.   
"Er….yes, we did." said Brenda. "But we did not want you to worry." she quickly added. "We know you've got a lot on your mind, moving back to England, going to that Hogwarts school. Making new friends, dealing with new classes, and students, and teachers. And living a few houses away from the world famous Harry Potter!"   
Her face turned a deep shade of crimson as she realized that Harry was standing near her.  
"Er..yeah. We didn't want you to worry." she stammered. "We thought it was for the best. We did not want to make you mad."  
  
Katrina sighed. "How long has Lu been missing?"  
"Around one a half month." Belinda told her.   
"That's around the same time you left the country." Arizona pointed out. "We thought he might turn up in England, maybe he was coming to see you. But you haven't seen him, have you?"  
Katrina shook her head, causing her long hair to brush Harry's face. Harry toke a couple steps back. He didn't realize he was standing so close to her.   
Sorry, Harry." she said, flashing him a brief smile. It quickly faded and a look of concern took it's place. "But where would he go?" she asked her friends and cousins. "Where would he go? Lu has no family. His parents were Dark Wizards and killed by Aurors when he was a little boy. Lu had few relatives, and the ones he did have did not want to take him in, they were afraid he was a bad wizard like his parents. He had to be sent to a Magical family to be his foster parents! Nobody else wanted him!" Katrina exclaimed. Then she got a sad look in her eyes, and her voice dropped. "It's not like he ran off to visit his Grandma or something! He's an only child and orphan. Jut like. Just like..just like me."  
Harry could almost feel one of his eyebrows raising. One of Katrina's friend's parents were killed by Aurors? Harry thought.  
"I never understood why Lu was sent to this country." Belinda said thoughtfully. "He was born here in England, like you, Katrina."  
"Nobody in England would take him in." Katrina answered with her voice in a low ominous, almost whisper. "They all knew the story of his parents. They were afraid that Lu was evil too. Only people in a foreign country would consider it, and America seemed the best, being that English is spoken here and all."   
  
The group stood around and talked for awhile. Harry listened to them. He felt extremely out of place, but yet, he was so curious that he could not help themselves. Katrina was still very worried and upset that her long time friend was missing, and she was still furious that nobody ever told her about it, even though her friends had good intentions.  
They had also come to the conclusion that since Lu would not be coming to claim his ticket, Harry would get to go with them. Harry was very excited about this. He had never been to a concert of any sort. The Dursley's would probably hate concerts since concerts are so loud, and crowded with all sorts of people. People partying, dancing, singing, fighting, getting into trouble, drinking and eating snacks, buying overpriced and low quality sournviers, and just generally enjoying their lives. But Harry was very excited at the opportunity to go to a Wizard Concert, and see Monsters of Merlin. After all, they were a very popular band, and very talented too. Plus he would get to go with Katrina and all of her friends. They seemed to be a fun lot. Oh, and he would be riding in the shiny red convertible all the way to the stadium in London and back. It was really nice of Mrs. Figg to rent it for them. He hoped that Drew was a good driver.   
************************************************************************Lunch was a cheerful affair. Harry had chosen Spaghetti and meat balls, and Mrs. Figg made pots full of it, along with bread sticks, and homemade ice-cream. Katrina surprised Harry with a well decorated cake she made herself, out of chocolate chip cookie mix. They spent the few hours before it was time to leave in the backyard talking under the trees. Harry was with them the whole time, and he felt very welcome. He mostly listened. He didn't have much to say. Katrina was still very upset about Lu's disapreance, but the bright sun shone outside, and the prospect of getting to go to the show seemed to make Katrina much more jovial. They piled into the red convertible. Harry wondered how they were going to all fit, but Katrina did a simple spell on it that made the backseat expand like a park bench. It wasn't the first time Harry had seen this happen. Arthur Weasley had performed a similar trick a few years earlier. Everyone chattered around happily. Katrina sat next to Harry in the back, along with Belinda and Arizona. She stretched out to get comfortable, and she rested her elbow very close to Harry. He didn't mind one bit.   
  
The radio played the whole way to London, and whenever a Monsters of Merlin song would come on the air, everyone would sing right along. There seemed to be a lot of their songs on that day, since it was the day of the concert.   
"Lu probably just didn't want to come to the concert." Brenda said to nobody in particular. "He was probably afraid of being in front of all us magical folk, afraid somebody might recognize him. He looks a lot like his father did. I've seen his old family pictures, you know."  
Drew swerved as a black cat walked out onto the road. "Damn cat! Almost got killed!" he yelled.   
"Yeah, his parents were really dark." Arizona said. "I heard they were right in the thick of You-Know-Who's Inner Circle. They probably knew all of the Dark Lord's secrets. They deserved to die, I'm sure. I know that if I was an adult, I would not want to take in a child with such a dark history."  
Katrina sighed. "Arizona." she said. "Please don't talk about that. There's a lot of things that you don't understand about Lu. A lot of things that none of us will ever be able to understand. Even I don't really understand that boy, and have the most in common with him since I'm an only child and orphan as well."  
Arizona put his hand on her shoulder, and gave her a deep sincere look. "I'm sorry, Kitty Kat." he said to her. "I forgot about all that stuff. I'm really sorry."  
Katrina smiled back at him and told him that it was all okay.  
Harry just sat there listening to the conversation, his head filled with questions. Katrina was becoming every bit as mysterious as she was beautiful.   
************************************************************************  
When they finally arrived at the concert, it was clear to Harry why someone like Lu might not want to be there. There were wizards everywhere! Probably just as many as there were at the Quiditch World Cup. Katrina quickly told him that the band was popular all over the world, and many fans followed them wherever they performed.  
The group happily talked amongst themselves, as they found there seats and bought refreshments to enjoy. Not all of their seats were in the same row. Two of them were going to sit a couple rows ahead. Since it was Harry's birthday, he and Katrina were going to sit together in those seats. Despite the roar of the anxious crowd, Harry could still hear the excited chattering voices of Katrina's friends behind them.   
  
Suddenly, everyone in the crowd stood up and started screaming. Katrina was too. Harry jumped up from his seat and saw that the band was coming out onto the stage. The crowd was screaming so loudly that he could feel the ground vibrating under his very feet.   
At the first note, the crowd screamed so loud that Harry thought he was going to be deaf. The band members were some of the strangest looking witches and wizards that Harry had ever seen.   
The lead singer was a tall, thin witch with slick straight bright purple hair. She had purple stars painted on her face, and was wearing matching purple lipstick. She wore a purple silk top that cut off above her belly button, reveling a pierced naval, and several purple circles that were painted around her belly button. She wore a black leather mini skirt, and knee high purple boats. She was loud, and danced around the stage happily as she sang. The other witch in the band played bass guitar, and she looked just like the lead singer, except everything about her was neon pink where the other girl had been purple. The wizard at the guitar had long green and silver painted hair that fell at his shoulders, and long flowing green and silver robes.   
"That's Mikal Moko!" Katrina screamed in Harry's ear. "He's my favorite!" Katrina was jumping up and down trying to get the best possible view of the stage. She was clapping her hands and singing along too.  
The drummer was fairly normal looking. He had jet black hair that he wore in short little spikes. He had a nose ring, but it was a small one.   
Several rows away, Harry could see a mosh pit forming in the isles, A girl in bright yellow robes was picked up and tossed into the air.   
"Ooooo." Katrina said to Harry. "That looks like fun! I'm going to go over there!"  
Suddenly, the crowd in the mosh pit dropped the yellow robed girl and she fell on the hard concrete floor. Harry gripped Katrina's arm as she turned her heels to join the mosh pitt.  
"No, don't go over there." he told her sternly. "I don't want you to get hurt.!"  
Katrina shrugged her shoulders. "Okay." she said. "I'll stay here with you."  
  
  
After several loud, upbeat songs, the guitar played a soft, somber note.   
"My favorite song!" Katrina exclaimed. "It's called 'Standing in the Rain', and it's there best song ever!"  
The band played on, and the pink haired singer began to sing a very heartbreaking voice.  
  
Everyday of my life, I keep searching.  
And everyday of my life  
I keep looking.   
Looking for somebody like you.   
To not remind me of what I used to do.  
Because I've got a secret.  
Something you don't understand.  
Yes, I've got a secret.  
And you're the only man  
Who will ever comprehend.  
  
Here I am  
I'm standing in the rain.   
Here I am.   
Waiting for you today.  
But you never ever come.  
And you never ever  
Listen up.  
No, you don't.   
No, you don't  
Here I am standing in the rain.  
Waiting for you to listen to my secret  
That I will never explain.  
I'll never explain.  
No, I won't explain.  
  
  
All throughout the crowd, Harry could see couple holding on tightly to one another. Katrina had a mystified look on her face. For a moment Harry thought he saw a glint of something like a tear in her eyes.   
"You really like this song?" he asked her.  
"Yeah. Like I told you it's my favorite." she replied. "You like it?"  
"Oh, yeah." Harry lied. "It's brilliant."   
Harry really didn't like that song at all, and he felt bad for lying to Katrina, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings. He still thought that that song was probably the corniest thing he'd ever seen. Katrina sobbed softly once, and Harry wondered why a song so stupid could effect her like that.   
  
And the rain runs thru my hair.  
I'm crying for you cuz your never there.  
You left me long ago.  
My secrets is in my heart   
And there is grows.  
Cuz I'm standing in the rain.  
Waiting for you  
Because I want to explain.  
My secrets too hard to bear.  
Won't you take it from me?  
Cuz I love you my dear.  
Yes, I love you.  
Don't leave me standing in the rain.  
With these secrets rolling through my brain.  
  
  
As the song struck it's final note, the crowd applauded and yelled. Harry was glad that song was over. He didn't like it very much at all. Unexpectedly, Harry saw Katrina grap his hand. Harry felt like someone had just put his hand in an electric socket. Katrina smiled into his eyes. "Let's go look at the souvenir T-shirts, okay" she said.  
Harry nodded.  
She led him up to the souvenir vendor.   
Several harassed looking wizards and witches stood in the booth, taking money, counting money and trying to remember what each person wanted. There was a very long line so it gave Harry and Katrina lots of time to look at everything. There were all sorts of interesting souvenirs to buy. There were a least twenty different t-shirt designs featuring pictures of the band, words, and a long list of all the concert dates and locations. Some of the pictures on the shirts actually moved! Katrina told him that t-shirts with moving pictures were called "Pic-Shirts." Those shirts had a sign next to them saying :  
"WARNING: IT IS AGAINST INTERNATIONAL WIZZARDING LAWS TO WEAR PIC-SHIRTS IN THE PRESENCE OF MUGGLES OR IN ANY PLACE WHERE MUGGLES MAY SEE THEM."  
  
  
Katrina noticed that Harry looked confused at this. "Well," she said with a warm smile. "You can't except Muggles to not get luscious if we start wearing shirts with moving things on them! They look like videos, almost!"   
Harry agreed that the law was probably a good idea, and continued to look at the cd's and cassettes. "Are those recordings of the concerts" he asked Katrina.  
"No, those are there albums." she said. "I've been to many Monsters of Merlin concerts, and if you could buy a live recording, I'd defiantly do it! No, those are for people who most likely come from Muggle families who have cd players. I already have their cd's."  
"How do you know about cd players? I thought that you were a pure blood." Harry said. Katrina looked at him funny. "Not that it matters, of course." he quickly added. "I'm only half blood myself, and one of my best friends is Muggle-born, so I don't care about that stuff."  
Katrina laughed. "I know you don't care about that sort of thing. Of course, you wouldn't! You're the famous Harry Potter!" At this Harry felt himself blush deeply. He guessed that even his toes were a deep shade of purple. "All of my relatives are wizards and witches, except for my Uncle Joey, the American. He owns a candy store. He's only related to me by marriage, but he's very cool. He understands all about magic. He is so cool about everything that Aunt Isabella sometimes thinks he might be a Squib or something."  
"What were your parents like, Katrina" Harry asked softly. He had wanted to ask her about this ever since he met her, and learned about her tragic past. A past so much like his own.  
Katrina sighed and a very strange look came over her face.  
"I'd rather not talk about it here." she said.  
And with that, she started looking at the other souvenirs, and Harry did the same.   
There were lots of posters with pictures of the band playing there instruments, and dancing around the stage. Some of the more expensive posters actually played music if you hit a button.   
When it was Katrina's turn to get her stuff, she walked up to the counter and told the worker that she wanted six t-shirts.   
"You got the money, kid?" he asked her, raising one eyebrow.  
"Yep." she said, opening her purse and slapping a cloth bag overflowing with gold galleons onto the table.   
"Whoa!" said that worker. Harry understood how he felt. He had never seen someone carrying around that many Galleons. Harry had a small fortune of his own in Gringotts, but Katrina was probably holding about half of what he had in his vault.   
She must be very rich. Harry thought to himself.   
The worker got all of Katrina's shirts, and then she also asked for a poster. "Oh, and whatever shirt Harry wants." she said.  
Harry looked at her funny. "Oh no." he said. "I have plenty of money, I'll buy my own things, thanks."  
Katrina shook her head but she smiled in a friendly, affectionate way. "No, sorry, Harry." she said to him. "It's your birthday, and I want to buy you a shirt as a present."  
"Just coming here with you…and er….your friends is enough present for me." he told her.  
Katrina blushed. "I'm still buying you a shirt, just the same. Now, pick out which one you want."  
Harry shrugged his shoulder and decided that since he was probably not going to win this conversation, he might as well get a shirt. Harry picked out the black that was blank on the front, except for the words MONSTERS OF MERLIN in scarlet writing. On the back it had a listing of all the concert dates, and in the middle was a photo of the band.  
"Ooooo. Good choice." Katrina said, playfully elbowing him in his side. "Nice and simple. Popular fashion trend for the guys right now too."  
"Er….okay." Harry said taking his shirt.  
"You got a good sense of style, Harry." she said in a soft sweet voice. She handed the worker her money. "I like that in a man."  
Harry felt himself turn purple once more. His entire body felt like it was made out of mashed potatoes. Katrina was acting like she was flirting with him. But was she really flirting or was she just trying to be silly? Harry knew he was supposed to say something right now but he couldn't think of a single thing to say.   
"You are so weird." he said to her.  
Uh-oh! Harry thought. That probably wasn't a very smart thing to say!   
But to his luck and surprise, she laughed out loud. "Yep, I'm a weird one." she said. "I always knew that. Let's go back to our seats now, okay?"  
Harry nodded, knowing that as long as he lived he would never understand girls, especially Katrina Figg. 


	5. Back to the Burrow

Chapter Four  
Back at the Burrow  
  
  
The rest of the concert, and the drive home was very pleasant for Harry. When they arrived back at Mrs. Figg's, it was well past mid-night. Mrs. Figg greeted them warmly at the door, and conjured up several sleeping bags for the guests to rest on. They stayed for breakfast the next morning, and then they Apprated home. Katrina was very sad to see her friends go. Harry was getting the impression that she might be starting to show some of the signs of homesickness.   
That afternoon he saw her sitting out in the backyard. She was leaning up against the tree, holding her guitar, but not playing it. She wore a glum expression on her face, which was turned toward the green grass.   
Harry walked up to her and sat down beside. "Your friends seemed very nice," he said.  
"They are very nice." she replied not looking up. "I just wish I knew where Lu was. It's so strange for him to be missing like he is. I hope nothing happened to him." Katrina looked up at Harry, and her eyes had the most tragic gleam in them that Harry had ever seen. It tore at his heartstrings to see her look so sad. He wished there was something that he could do for her.  
"Do you miss your home in America?" Harry asked.   
She nodded. "It's so strange being here in England. I'm a Brit-born just like you, but I feel like I'm an American. It was really weird back on the fourth of July. I'm used to going to barbeques and parties, but it was just a normal day here. I shot off some fireworks late that night. Grandma got really mad at me but.."  
"Oh, that was you!" Harry interrupted, remembering the fireworks that he had seen.  
"Yes, that was I!" Katrina said. A mischievous grin spread across her face. "Grandma told me not to shot them off because someone might see them and we might get into trouble with the Muggle Police. I told her she was crazy, and that nobody would ever see them, but I guess she was right!"  
Harry laughed. "Things are like that sometimes." he said.  
Katrina twisted a strand of her burgundy hair with her fingertips. "It's so weird being here." she told Harry.  
"Why is it weird?" he asked.  
"Being back in the country where I was born, where all my family, except for my cousins and my American Uncle Joey, were born. It's just strange. It's like I feel a connection to everything here. It's weird. I can't explain it. But I don't feel like I belong here. I feel like a bit of an alien. Like everybody is watching me."   
Harry didn't really know what to say to this so he remained quiet.   
"And I'm off to Hogwarts soon!" Katrina exclaimed.  
"Yes, you are going to Hogwarts with me." Harry said. "Are you looking forward to it?"  
"I don't know how I feel about going to the school where my parents got their education. It's a really big step. I just hope that I am good enough. I don't want to let Dumbledore down! He's done so much for me." Katrina said.  
"Do you know anything about your parents? I know that they died when you were only two years old. " Harry asked, feeling a little brave. He had wanted to talk to Katrina about this since he had met her. Now seemed like as good a time as any.   
Katrina look straight into Harry's eyes, her gaze was surprisingly cold, so cold that it sent a shiver down his spine. "I know something about them. But not much." she said.   
Harry looked at her without saying anything. He hoped she would continue.  
"My mother was young. My father was a much much older man. Old enough to be her father. My mother was beautiful. I have seen pictures of her and my grandmother's house. I look just like she did when she was my age. Everyone liked my mom. She was very popular at Hogwarts. Not much of a student in anything but Divination. My mother was a truly gifted seer. Oh, and she could speak a bunch of different languages. Nothing magical, though. She knew French, German and Spanish. Spanish was her favorite, at least that's what my Aunt Isabella tells me. But she was a very good seer. I wonder if that runs in the family. I heard the Divination teacher at Hogwarts is really something!"  
Harry couldn't help but snort. He never put my faith in Divination, as anybody who had Professor Trewlawney would.   
"My mom also played a lot of instruments, and she sung a lot. There's where I get my musical abilities from. My father had no taste or patience for music. At least that's what someone who knew him told me. " Katrina continued.  
"Do you know any of your father's family?" Harry asked.  
She shook her head, a few strands of her soft curls bumped into Harry's face.   
"I am my father's only remaining relative. All the rest are dead. I don't know much about my father. I don't have any photos of him, so I can't remember what he looked like. I was young when I lost my family. Two years old. " she said. A single tear rolled down her face. She ignored it. "But I can remember his eyes. I have eyes just like his. I remember looking into his eyes, and they seemed so warm, and so loving, and so tender when he looked at me. I know two years old is really young to remember anything, but this was my father, you know. My father loved me. Some people would not believe it but my father loved me."   
  
Harry felt his throat tighten. "I don't remember anything about my family. I can hear their voices when the dementors come too close to me. I can hear the last moments of their lives, right before they were murdered by Lord Voldermort." he said.  
Katrina's face turned very white. Harry supposed it was because he used Voldermort's name.   
"You can hear their last moments before they died?" she asked in a quiet voice.  
Harry nodded.  
Katrina looked at him without speaking for several seconds. Her lips trembled.  
"Oh Harry!" she said suddenly, throwing her arms around his neck in a hug.   
Harry felt very taken back, and extremely awkward, but he put one arm around her back, and tried to comfort her as she cried, tears drenching the shoulder of the new shirt she had bought him.  
**************************************************************************  
Harry's next few days were a happy blur. He spent his mornings sleeping as late as he wanted, then coming downstairs to a pleasant home made lunch. He spent his afternoons sending owls, and spending time with Katrina. They played games together, watched TV, and exchanged stories about their wizzarding schools, and their lives. Harry felt very close to Katrina. He could say things to her that he could never explain to anyone else, and she always seemed to understand. They stayed up all hours of the night talking, and Harry quickly came to think of her as a new best friend. He secretly prayed that she would be placed in Gryfindor with him, Ron, and Hermione. He hoped that they would get along with her. Harry would be very unhappy if his old friends didn't like her. He was quite ready to include her in all their daily adventures. Despite their sudden closeness, there were two things that Harry never spoke to Katrina about. He never said anything to her about his feelings for Cho Chang. He didn't want her to know, not because he didn't trust her, but because he was starting to feel like he liked Katrina as much as Cho, and he didn't want her to think that Cho was his girlfriend. Besides, Ron had sent him another Owl with news about Cho. Apparently, Ron had seen one of Cho's friends at Flourish and Blott's, they had told Ron that Cho was still very heartbroken. The second thing that Harry never spoke of was his and Katrina's parents. Obviously, this topic upset her. He still didn't know what had made her cry and cling to him like she did that night, but Harry didn't want to bring that topic up again. He was enjoying himself too much, and didn't want his very last days there to have any unpleasantness.  
  
One late night, Harry sat on a couch in the basement listening to Katrina play her guitar. She played often, and Harry liked to sit and listen to her. To Harry, her voice was the prettiest sound he had ever heard. Song of her songs were upbeat and cheerful, but sometimes they were slow and sad. Harry liked it when she played the happy songs. They seemed to suit her better and it made Harry's thought twist up in knots just to think about Katrina feeling sad. Yes, he was definitely starting to really like her.  
It was during this time when Pigwigdeon flew past Harry's head, dropping a note in his lap.   
"Hey, where did that owl come from!?" Katrina exclaimed excitedly, putting down her guitar.  
"I dunno." Harry said. "But I know that it is a message from Ron."   
He opened up the letter and read it.  
  
Harry,  
Do you think the Muggles will let you come over and stay when you get back?   
Mum said that you and Hermione could come stay for a few days. It'll be fun. You can bring that new girl with you too. Ginny is been asking me about her.  
Let me know what you think!  
Ron  
  
Katrina scowled towards the note. She obviously did not like being called "the new girl."   
Nevertheless, she seemed interested.   
"Do you think your Aunt and Uncle will let you go?" she asked.   
Harry shook his head. "No way. They wouldn't let me go instead of coming here!"   
Katrina gave him a pouty look. "But you wouldn't rather be there than here?" she asked him.  
"No, I like being here." he said.  
"What are you friends like?" Katrina asked him eagerly. "Tell me about them."  
"Well," Harry said. "Ron's a really nice guy. He's got red hair, all of the people in his family do. He is really funny, and he's really tall. A real big Quiditch fan. Hermione is nice too, but she can be a bit bossy .She's a really good student. She's very smart and very bookish. She gets upset if she gets a bad grade."  
Katrina smiled at him. "I'd like to meet your friends, Harry." she said.  
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "You'll meet them when we go back to Hogwarts." he said.  
Katrina's face quickly turned bleak.  
"What's wrong, Katrina?" he asked.   
She shook her head. "I'm worried about making friends at Hogwarts." she said. "I'm afraid that people will not like me."  
"Why wouldn't they like you?" Harry asked, dumbfounded. He couldn't understand why anyone would not like Katrina. She was smart, funny, talented, gorgeous. Basically perfect.  
"Because of my family." she muttered.  
"Because your parents are dead?!" Harry exclaimed. Katrina jumped. "Oh, Katrina, nobody is going to say anything about that." he said soothingly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Well, anybody important or decent." he added thinking of Draco Malfoy. "I don't have any parents and I have friends. Lots of the kids have family members who are victims and nobody bothers them." he told her.  
Katrina just kept on looking toward the ground.   
"Lord Voldemort hurt a lot of people in this country. Lots of f his victims have children or grandchildren that go to Hogwarts." Harry told her. He saw her face turn ghostly white again. "Oh, sorry, you probably don't like it when I saw His name, do you? Lots of people don't like it, but I say it, but I'll try not to say it anymore around you, since it bothers you so much."  
  
Katrina gave Harry a strange look.  
"Your a really good person, Katrina. I don't now what big flaw you think you have that will make people not like you. Nobody is going to care about your parents. That's just the way life is. You don't even have to tell them if you don't want to. Nobody would probably know if you didn't say anything." Harry said.  
Katrina stared on, not saying a word.  
Harry couldn't stand her unhappiness. "Oh, come one, Katrina!" he exclaimed. "As far as I can tell, you are perfect! I don't see a single thing wrong with you!"  
Katrina laughed. It was a strange, deep laugh. "Oh, believe me. I have a few flaws." she said, playing with the gold necklace Harry always saw her wearing. "No, I'm not perfect. Far from it."  
Harry decided that he didn't want to continue that conversation anymore, so he turned over Ron's note and told wrote to Ron that he didn't think that he would be able to come.  
Then he sent the note off with Pig, and headed up the stairs to his bed. Harry's head felt heavy with thoughts and negativity. He didn't feel like listening to the music that Katrina was beginning to play again.  
He laid in bed that night thinking. He thought about his own problems, how much he was dreading going back to the Dursley's when they got back, and how much he wanted to go to Ron's house, and take Katrina with him. He wanted Ron to meet her. Ron would definitely like her. And then there was Katrina herself. She was so pretty. Prettier than Cho Chang, but that didn't matter much. Harry wondered how he could think that he like Katrina after he liked Cho for so long. He was also worried about what Katrina would be like when she go to Hogwarts. Harry knew that there was no way Katrina wouldn't make any friends. Harry would personally curse anyone who was rude to her. But would she want anything to do with him once she got there, and made other friends? That's what was bothering Harry the most.  
**************************************************************************  
  
It was with a heavy heart that Harry returned to the Dursley's a short couple days later. Uncle Vernon picked Harry up at Mrs. Figg's house. Mrs. Figg said goodbye to Harry by giving him a large stack of chocolate chip cookies, and telling Harry to be good. Katrina simply ruffled his hair, and told him that she'll see him around sometime, winking coyly.   
  
Dudley looked as if he had gained about 50 extra pounds from being able to eat as much French food as he wanted. It was too bad for him really, Harry thought. Now his mother might make him diet even harder! But Harry found it amusing, even though a nasty little voice in the back of his head kept reminding him that Aunt Petunia would probably make the whole family go on the stricter diet as well.  
It wasn't happy times that Harry spent the next few days. He stayed up in his room most of the time, reading over his spell books. He figured if he wasn't going to be having any fun at home, he might as well study so he could good marks when he returned to Hogwarts. Maybe Katrina would be in some of his classes. He didn't know if good grades would impress her, but he decided that it probably could not hurt. Maybe he'd learn so much over the summer that he might be able to do better than Hermione the Prefect on a test! No, Harry wasn't the least bit interested in going downstairs with his family to listen to them relive their Paris adventure. From the stories they told, it sounded like Dudley had the time of his life. Harry figured that probably had something to do with all the delicious sounding French food that he ate. Of course, it wasn't that Harry didn't have a good time himself with Mrs. Figg, Katrina and her friends and relatives. Harry defiantly knew that he had much more fun with Katrina just a few streets away from home than he could ever have with the Dursley's in Paris. Harry just wished he was back at the Figg's house.  
  
One day, Harry was sitting up in room starring absent mindly out the window when he saw a stranger walk up to the door. A very strange stranger it was.   
The stranger was wearing a long dark robe with green and silver trimmings. They had a hood raised over it's face, which was icy white. Harry pressed his nose against the glass of his window trying to get a better look. He knew that this stranger must be part of the wizzarding world, or at least be some type of magical creature. Harry had never seen a Muggle wear a robe like that.  
Harry heard a tap at the door, and footsteps approaching it. Harry walked to the edge of the staircase on his tip toes, peeking around the corner, and looking downstairs as Uncle Vernon opened the door.   
A sight greeted Harry's eyes that startled him so much, he almost stumbled down a stair. The stranger was very disturbing looking up close. It's skin was as white as it could be. Harry could not see their face because the hood cast a dark shadow on the face, but Harry should see the eyes. It had a terrible, deep blood red eyes that seemed to search around the room. It had long, thin, pointed fingernails that were painted crimson. When it spoke, it spoke in a high pitch, snake like hiss. Harry could not recognized the voice as neither male nor female.  
The stranger asked Uncle Vernon for Harry. Uncle Vernon, who had been complaining the previous day about him, was happy to call his only nephew down the stairs to meet the stranger.  
"Harry….Harry Potter" said the voice as Harry slowly approached, fearfully as if it were a dangerous beast that might attack at any notice.   
"Pack up your things. And bring them down the stairs. You will be leaving, and not returning until the following year." the stranger told him.  
"Oh! Harry is leaving!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully. "Well, Harry, do what this,….er,,,,,person…wants you to do."   
The stranger drew a wand from the pocket of it's robe.  
Harry had no choice to obey. He went upstairs and gathered up all of the things he would be needing for the next year, and drug them down the stairs.  
The Dursley's nodded to him as Harry followed the scary stranger out the door. He supposed that this was their idea of a goodbye. The Dursley's door closed behind him, and Harry was alone with the stranger on the other side of it, awaiting fate.   
  
The stranger slowly drew out a wand. Harry's heart began to quicken and jump in his chest.   
"What's a matter, Harry?" said the stranger with a slight, snake like grin. The stranger hissed at him, "Are you afraid, Harry? ARE YOU AFRAID OF ME, HARRY POTTER?"   
The stranger tapped the wand to their shoulder, and instantly the stranger turned into Katrina Figg. She was smiling brightly and mischief glinted in her eyes. "Cool trick, huh?" she said, obviously amused at Harry's surprise.  
"Wha….what…what is this about?" Harry said. He was feeling all sorts of emotions at the moment. He was surprised that it was Katrina, he was curious what she was up to, was she playing some sort of trick on him? He was relieved that it wasn't some phycopatethic murder come to get him. And his heart was jumping around in his chest once more. This time he wasn't afraid that some frightening looking stranger was going to kill him. He was sure it had something to do with how Katrina looked in a white t-shirt, and matching denim duster and mini-skirt, along with thick soled beige platform scandals. She was wearing red lipstick and her hair was loose, blowing in the slight breeze. She was wearing that fine gold necklace again. Harry never saw her without it. He didn't know what it looked like because she always wore it tucked inside her shirt.   
"Your coming over to my house." she said in a matter of fact tone.  
"What?" Harry said, still feeling surprised.  
"Well, a Mrs. Molly Weasley is there waiting for you. She's going to take you back to her house for the summer." she told him. Harry could tell that she was trying to be non-chalant, but he could also sense a look of sadness in her eyes.   
"Mrs. Weasley is at your house to get me?" he asked, not sure if he had heard correctly.  
Katrina rolled her green eyes. "Yes, that's what I've been trying to tell you!"  
"Oh, wow!" Harry said. "That's my best friend's mom! Ron, you know, I've told you all about him. But how did Mrs. Weasley know your grandmother?"  
Katrina smiled. "Everybody knows my grandmother. And everybody knew my mother."   
Harry nodded, not really caring about at the moment about Katrina's mom or grandma. He was too excited about getting to go to Ron's house. Mrs. Weasley was waiting for him there, and he had all his stuff packed, he'd probably be leaving thru Floo Powder for the Burrow in just a few minutes! And he'd see Ron, Fred, George, and all the rest. Maybe Hermione would come for a visit. Harry was very excited.  
But then he noticed a sad look on Katrina's face. "What's wrong, Katrina?" he asked her.  
Then Harry understood. Katrina was a little jealous. She wanted to go too. Harry thought for a second about Katrina and how weird it must be to be living in one country and going to one school all your life, and then suddenly going somewhere different, all the way across the world. Harry remembered how hard it was for him to adjust to life at Hogwarts. He didn't know anybody there, and he didn't know very much about magic, growing up with Muggles.   
"You could come too, you know." Harry said to her, as he hopped over an empty soda bottle someone left on the side walk. "Ron has got a lot of brothers and a sister. One more person wouldn't be any trouble or any extra work. And I bet they wouldn't care anyway. His parents are the nicest people I've ever met."   
Katrina shook her head.  
"Awwwww. C'mon!" Harry said. He was a little surprised. Katrina looked a little nervous, which seemed a little strange to Harry since Katrina always seemed so willing and ready for everything. She seemed, well, a little fearless. "Everybody in Ron's family is really nice. Ron is really nice. It wouldn't be any trouble for them at all, and they'd probably be happy to have another guest. You could stay with Ginny in her room. That's Ron's younger sister. Oh, c'mon, Katrina, you just have to go!"   
Katrina looked at Harry for a moment. Her beautiful green and silver eyes staring back into his. For an instant, Harry forgot where he was and what he was doing. All he could think about was Katrina and how much he wanted her to go with him. Even though Harry had only known her for a short time, she had become a very good friend, and they just seemed to click. Not growing up in a happy family, Harry had grown very sentimentally attached to the close friends he had made at Hogwarts, and in the magical world. Like Ron, Hermione, and all the Weasley. They were like his family, and he wanted them with him. He wanted Katrina with him, but he defiantly didn't feel a sister-like affection for her like he did for Ginny or Hermione. But he defiantly didn't have a crush on her, or did he? But he told himself that it wasn't important how he felt about Katrina, he just had to concentrate on convincing her to go with him.   
  
"What did you think of my trick?" Katrina asked in an upbeat voice. She was grinning like mad.   
"You sure had me fooled. I thought some hideous monster was coming to get me!" Harry said.  
"Nope, no hideous monsters. Just me." Katrina replied.  
"How did you do that anyway?" Harry asked.  
"I learned it in my Transfiguration class last year. Pretty tricky but of magic, but I think it can be quite useful. Your Uncle sure didn't argue with me!"  
Harry laughed.  
"So, are you going to come to the Weasly's with me?"  
Katrina looked at him for a moment, with an expressionless face.   
"Sure, I'll go." she said after what seemed like an eternity.   
************************************************************************  
When Harry and Katrina arrived at Mrs. Figg's door step, Mrs. Weasly ran outside, almost trampling a stray black cat that had wondered into the yard. She hugged Harry, and kissed him on each of his cheeks. Harry blushed deeply as he heard her exclaim over how wonderful it was to see him.  
  
"Did the Dursley's give you any trouble, Katrina?" Mrs. Weasley asked.  
Katrina shook her head no.  
Mrs. Weasley beamed. "Good!" she exclaimed. She turned to Mrs. Figg. "Maybe she takes after Isabella. I hear she's really something with Transfiguration."  
Mrs. Figg swelled with pride. "Oh, you know my daughter, Isabella?"   
Mrs. Weasley nodded her head. "I believe she works for the North American Department of Muggle Artifacts, or something like that. I can't remember the name. The North Americans have such long complicated names. With their being the Canadians and Mexicans in that content too, three languages you know, I guess that would make things difficult. Anyway, my husband, Arthur works for the Muggle Artifacts Department in the Ministry. She's come over many times to work with him. Arthur liked her. Liked hearing about foreign Muggles, and she liked to talk with him. Brought her over for dinner once or twice. Nice girl. So young, though."   
  
"Oh, well, small world, isn't it?" Mrs. Figg said.  
Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Well, I guess it's about time for us to be going. The boys and Ginny are back at home, waiting for us. They are anxious to see Harry." she announced. "Katrina." she added. "Are you coming with us? You are more than welcome to come. Goodness knows I've got so many children running around the place one more young person won't hurt. May not even notice you're there!"  
Katrina stared down sheepishly.   
"You've got to come with us! It will be fun! Ginny, our only daughter, she heard about you from Ron, and she is been asking about you non-stop! She wants to meet you so badly. You can stay in her room. She won't mind. She'll be enthusiastic, actually!"  
At this, Katrina told Mrs. Weasley that she'd love to come, and she headed upstairs to get her things together.   
When she returned, she had her purse, a red and black backpack thrown over her right shoulder, and a red trunk with shiny stars, and the initials KAF painted on in some fancy way. She was also wearing something different that what she had been wearing before.   
She was wearing a forest green t-shirt that was covered in sparkly silver glitter with a dark indigo pair of jeans that were also covered in glitter. Her shoes were a pair of flat plastic green flip flops that matched the color of her shirt.  
  
"I wanted to be wearing something nice when I meet everyone." she explained.  
Mrs. Figg shook her head. "Your such a clothes horse." she said in a teasing tone of voice. "Don't know why you worry so much about clothing when there's hungry kids in third world countries that don't have clothes without holes."  
"And there's fat kids in third world countries that don't have clothes with holes too." Katrina said jokingly.   
Mrs. Figg rolled her eyes at her granddaughter. "Oh, get out of here, and go off to make friends!" She pretended to hit the back of her head. Katrina gave a make-believe shriek, and with a tiny pop, she Apprates.   
"Where'd she go?" said a very startled Mrs. Weasley.  
"Katrina can Apprate. You get your license to do that at a much younger age where she's from. It's valid here." Mrs. Figg explained.  
"Oh, of course." Mrs. Weasley said. She pulled a tiny bottle of Floo Powder out of her purse. "Here, you go, Harry. Come over when you are ready. I'm going to go ahead and make sure Katrina is okay."   
With that, Mrs. Weasley Apprated as well.  
Harry walked over to the fireplace, flung the powder into the flames and called out a goodbye to Mrs. Figg. He stepped into the fire. Floo Powder may be Harry's least favorite way to travel, but if he could use it to see Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys, then he would not mind at all.  
*************************************************************************The next thing Harry knew, he was stepping out of the Weasley's kitchen fire place. Mrs. Weasley was standing by the fire, smiling at him. None of the Weasley's were in the room except for her. Katrina was sitting in a chair in a back corner with an expression that told she felt a little out of place.   
  
"Boys! Ginny! Harry is here!" Mrs. Weasley yelled. Harry could hear the sounds of rushed feet running down the stairs. "Opps. I forgot to say that you are here, Katrina dear. Oh, well. I'm sure they will figure it out." she added with a twinkling smile.   
  
At the same time, all of the Weasleys and Hermione were rushing into the kitchen. Hermione was the first to reach him.   
"Harry!" she cried. "Good to see you! I missed you! Guess what, I'm a prefect!"  
Harry grinned. "Uh, yeah, Hermione. Ron told me."  
Fred and George greeted him next by slapping hit on the back. Harry wished they hadn't. It made his glasses bounce uncomfortably against his nose.   
"We wanted to come to get you, but Mum wouldn't let us. Thought we'd give Muggles Ton Tongue Toffee like we did last time." Fred told him.  
"But we've got better tricks that now." George added in a whisper that only they three could here. "With that money you gave us, we were able to develop a lot of new products that we couldn't have been able to do without it. Thanks a million, Harry.""It's no big deal. That money would be tainted for me, anyway. I'm just glad that is's going to do some good and help you guys out." Harry said.   
  
It was then that Harry noticed Ron was saying a word. Instead, he had a funny look on his face, a combination of a day dream and needing to throw up. Harry followed his gaze and saw that he was looking at Katrina, who still looked very out of place.  
Ron suddenly gripped Harry's arm and drug him out the kitchen door into the yard.   
  
"Harry!" he burst out. "Who the bloody hell is she!"  
Harry explained to Ron all about Katrina and the times they had shared together.  
"When you told me about her, I never thought she looked like that! And you stayed at her house! How come you get all the bloody luck!" Ron said with a grin.  
"I don't get any luck!" Harry said, his voice raising in anger. "I almost got killed last year by Lord Voldermort! That's not lucky at all!"   
Ron gave him a frustrated look. "Don't say the name! Besides, you know I was only joking."  
Harry nodded. "Okay." Harry suddenly remembered that he hadn't seen Percy."Oh, he's at work." Ron said. "He got himself a new job now, since Mr. Crouch is gone. He's gone a bit mad about it too. He'll tell you all about it when he gets home tonight. Whether you want to hear it or not."  
Harry thought for a moment about how much Percy liked working with Mr. Crouch. He felt a little sorry for Percy, but Harry was glad that he was happy at a new job.  
"Things haven't gone too well for Percy. I told you about what else happened to him, didn't I?" Ron asked.  
Harry shook his head. He didn't have a clue what Ron was talking about.  
Ron frowned. "Well, you remember that Percy had a girlfriend? She's that Ravenclaw prefect that got Petrified our 2nd year. Yeah, her name is Penelope Clearwater, in case you don't remember. They'd be going out all last year too but she dumped him last month."  
"She did!" Harry cried. "Why?"  
"She was all impressed about him having that job in the Ministry, being Mr. Crouch's assistant and everything. She thought she was something, having a beau in the Ministry and all. But Percy lost his job, hard to be someone's personal assistant when they are dead! Yeah, she dumped him. I guess she fancied my brother's title, instead of him."  
"That's awful." Harry said. "Is he okay?"   
Ron nodded. "I reckon he is. He just concentrates on his work, talks about his job non-stop. Mum and Dad are hoping he meets a nice girl who care about money, and tittles. They reckon another that if he fancied another girl it would take his mind off of things."  
In the house, Harry could head a girl giggly. It sounded like Ginny. Then he heard another laugh that was unmistakably Katrina's, followed by excited footsteps running up the stairs.   
"Let's go inside. You can put your things in my room. Hermione is staying with Ginny. Katrina will be staying in there too?" Ron said.  
Harry told him that he thought so, as they walked in the door, and headed up the stairs into Ron's room. Hermione was already there, sitting on Ron's very orange bed, with a curious look on her face.  
"So, that's Katrina Figg, the new Hogwarts student! And all the way from America!" Hermione exclaimed. "Ron told me about her. Ginny is been talking about her constantly. Well, she has as long as I've been hear, at least."   
"Why's Ginny so excited to meet her?" Harry asked, thinking it was kind of strange for Ginny to be so interested in Katrina.  
"I dunno." Ron said. "You'd think she'd be mad jealous of her. You know.." he said poking Harry in the ribs as he talked. "A pretty girl like that arriving with Harry. We all know she's very taken with you, Harry."   
Harry blushed. "Well, I..uh..er." he stammered.  
Hermione rolled her eyes. "This is so like you two. You just like her because she is good looking."  
"Hey, I haven't even talked to her yet!" Ron exclaimed in surprise, shockidley staring at Hermione. "Besides, she can't help it if she's good looking."  
"Yeah, but you can help to keep your eyes in their sockets!" Hermione called back.  
Now it was Ron's turn to roll his eyes. "I don't know what you are talking about, Hermione."  
Hermione sighed. "You weren't downstairs in the kitchen with her. I was." she said sounding very annoyed. "And she was awful. Giggling like mad with Ginny. Ginny walks up to her, tells her how much she loves her outfit, the next thing I know, the two of them are chattering back and forth like a couple of maniacs about clothes, and make up, and hair styles!"  
"So?" Ron interrupted. "That's what girls talk about!"  
"She's a complete git. No brains at all." Hermione continued, pretending she had not heard Ron. "Oh, it's a wonder that Dumbledore even let her in at all!"  
"Could you possibly be jealous of her, Hermione?" Ron threw back with a smirk.  
"Oh, not at all!" Hermione said. She looked shocked, like Ron had just slapped her. "I just could tell in those few moments how high her IQ is. I hope her mother was smarter than she was. And they saw her mother ran away! Probably got lost in the.."  
"HEY!" Harry yelled. Hermione and Ron both jumped. They had forgotten that he was there. "Katrina's mother is dead! Don't you dare say anything bad about her mother! That's a terrible thing to do! It really upsets her when people talk about her dead parents, and I don't want to hear anybody mentioning it!"  
  
Hermione's face turned very white. "Sure, Harry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything like that. Especially with, well, your parents, and all." she said in an embarrassed voice, staring at her feet.   
"Okay, well, can we talk about something else?" Ron said, also sounding a little embarrassed.  
"Right." Hermione, said perking up to her normal self. "We've got to talk about You-Know-Who. We have got to think of a way to..."  
  
"Ron, Harry, Hermione." Mrs. Weasley interrupted, walking into the room. "I'm making a special dinner to celebrate Harry and Katrina's arrival, and I need to pick up a few things. I'm going to The Pergine Pantry in Diagon Alley to get my supplies. I thought everyone could come along, I'll give you some money and everyone go to the ice cream parlor while I'm shopping."  
"I'll go. I never pass up ice cream." Ron said quickly.  
Hermione and Harry agreed.   
"Good." Mrs. Weasley said happily. "All the others agreed to come too."  
"You don't have to make anything special for dinner on account of me." Harry said.  
"Oh goodness! It's no trouble at all, dear. Really, it's not. I just want to make you feel welcome."  
**************************************************************************  
  
"Mmmmm. This is good!" Ron said taking a big bite of his Strawberry and Fudge Sundae.  
They were all sitting at a large circular table inside the ice-cream parlor. Maybe it was all the sugar in his Peanut butter Buster Surprise Sundae but Harry was feeling very content in the world. He was sitting between Katrina and Ron. On his right side, Ron was busy talking to his Fred and George about the tryouts for the Gryfindor Quiditch team. Harry was very happy to have heard that the twins had been selected by Professor McGongall to be the new co-captains of the Gryfindor team. There were two empty spots open. Ron was hoping to secure a position as a new chaser, since Angelina had decided that she wanted to spend more time on her studies that playing Quiditch. Harry was sorry to hear that she was going to play anymore, but he knew that if Ron could get on the team, it would be really great. Apparently, Ron had been practicing with his brothers every day throughout the summer. Fred and George really wanted their youngest brother to be on the team. There was also Oliver Wood's old spot as Keeper, but Harry didn't have a clue who would be trying out for that spot.  
On his other side, Katrina was talking with Ginny. Harry was very pleased to see that the two of them were getting along famously. Harry thought that this was wonderful because at least he knew that Katrina would have him and Ginny as friends. But he really didn't have any fear that Katrina would have difficulty in that department. The Weasleys seemed to be very charmed by her.   
Yes, Harry was feeling very content with the world. He couldn't believe that he had woken up that morning on Privet Drive, thinking he was going to be stuck there until September 1, and now he was eating ice cream in Diagon Alley, and would be staying with his friends! Harry was so happy with himself that he didn't even notice out uncomfortable Hermione looked, and how she kept frowning and tut-tuting at Katrina and Ginny, who were talking about some dress Katrina saw in Witches Weekly that would look suberp on Ginny.  
Just as Katrina gushed about how Ginny had the most remarkable red hair and skin coloring, Harry heard the jangle of a bell attached to the door. Harry looked over his shoulder to see that Cho Chang had entered the shop.  
  
Harry felt himself turn pink, then embarrassed by his own embarrassment, he turned crimson, as he quickly looked around at his friend's to see if they had noticed anything. Luckily, they hadn't.  
  
"I need some napkins." he said excusing himself from the table, but everyone was too busy in their own conversations, or in Hermione's case, unhappy thoughts to hear him.  
  
To get napkins, Harry had to ask the plump smiling witch at the counter. That was wearing Cho was standing. She was by herself. Harry thought she looked radiant in a pale blue short sleeved sweater, and khaki colored pants. Her hair was tied back in an oversized banana yellow scrunchy.  
  
"A small vanilla cone to go, please." Cho said to the witch.  
"Cho Chang?" Harry said, feeling very nervous. His hands were shaking, and his palms were sweaty. His heart seemed to catch in his throat.   
"Harry!" she said, treating him to a warm, friendly smile. "Good to see you. How are you?"  
"Uh...just fine." Harry said feeling very stupid. Perhaps he should have thought of something to talk about before he approached her.  
"Well, that's nice." she said, still smiling. "Everything looks so tasty here. I hardly knew what to pick. What did you have?"  
"A Peanut butter Buster Surprise." he said, choking on the words. He could feel half of his ice cream churning in his stomach.   
Cho suddenly stopped smiling. Her eyes darkened. She lowered her eyes, and her voice got soft. "That was Cedric's favorite sweet." she said.  
"Er.I..er.I didn't know. I'm sorry." Harry said, mentally kicking himself. Why couldn't he ever say the right thing to Cho? Why did he have to be such an idiot all the time?  
"I miss Cedric very much." she said solemnly.  
"Cedric was a really nice guy." Harry said. "Good Seeker too." he added as an after thought.  
"Cedric was a great guy. The best." she replied, nodding her pretty head.  
"He thought a lot of you, Harry. I know, because, well, because, he told me so." she said. Her voice began to crackle a little bit. Harry could tell that she was fighting back tears, but probably wasn't going to win that fight. "A few days before he died. He told me...he told me that he hoped that if he wasn't the Champion, that it would be you. Not, because you were from Hogwarts. But because he like you,. He thought you were a good guy."  
Harry didn't know what to say. He felt like an insensitive jerk for upsetting Cho.   
"I miss him a lot. I think about him all the time. I really loved him. He was very special to.."  
"Here's your ice cream, honey." said the witch behind the counter.  
"Goodbye, Harry" Cho said sadly, as she took her ice cream and headed out the door.  
Harry sat back in his chair feeling like the most awful person in the world. 


	6. Percy's New Job

Chapter Five  
Percy's New Job  
  
After Harry and his friends left the ice cream shop, the day was much more pleasant for him. Katrina stopped at a robe shop to have a look around. She had never been to Diagon Alley before, at least anytime that she remembered. Perhaps she had been there when she was a baby but she didn't really know. Katrina was fascinated by the different shops, and the different characters that they encountered.   
  
"Don't you have wizard-only places like this in America?" Hermione asked her.  
"Yes, we do, but there not as, er, interesting as these shops are. Wizzarding shops and villages in America are more Muggle like. Mostly because they are not as many of us in America, and members of the magical community are more spread out." Hermione and Katrina continued their conversation as the group walked around the Alley. Harry didn't find it interesting, so he sort of tuned it out. He was just glad that Hermione and Katrina were getting along. Unfortunately, Ginny was not helping things. She kept interrupting, trying to change the subject to things like makeup, music, fashion, and crushes.   
All of a sudden, Katrina gave a little excited shriek. Everyone was concerned that something was wrong, or she was, hurt, but they quickly realized what was going on. Katrina ran straight up to a street vendor selling boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Harry was surprised to see her grab at least 20 boxes from the cart, and thrust a handful of coins into the vendor's hands. She was smiling insanely, like she had just got away with some really fun and mischievous deed.   
"She must be really really hungry," Ron in an undertone to Harry.  
"Why did you buy all that candy, Katrina?" Harry asked her.  
She turned around to Harry, her eyes full of utter joy. "This not just candy! These are Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans!" she announced as if she had made a fascinating world changing discovery.  
"Yep, that sure are." Fred said with a laugh.  
"Humph." Katrina said, trying to sound insulted, but it didn't work too well since she was still grinning. "In America, they don't sell Bertie Botts just anywhere. They have to be imported, and they are only sold in really fancy shops. They cost 10 galleons and fifteen knuts a box!"  
Everyone gasped. "That's how much a box of Bertie Botts cost in America?" George said sounding very astonished. "You can buy a box or two with pocket change here." Fred added.   
"Exactly." Katrina said nodding. "You only get them for Christmas, Easter, or your birthday, and you get only one or two boxes. Sometimes if a boy really wants to impress a girl, he buys her a box as a special gift, but he must really like the girl to spend that much!"   
"Well, you sure are right about things being different! I bet Hogwarts is really going to be different from your old school!" Hermione said. "What was the name of that school? I forgot."  
"The John Proctor North American School of Magic." Katrina answered. "Now, who wants a bean?"  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Mrs. Weasley certainly made an understatement when she said that she was going to make a special dinner. Not only did she make one special dish but she made several. There were so many different foods, Harry knew he'd be very full before he got to have a little bite of everything. Mr. Weasley had come home before dinner had started, but Percy had not. Percy had told his family earlier that he would be working late, and for them to eat their dinner without him.   
Mr. Weasley was very happy to see Harry. But he was even more happy to see Katrina. He already knew that she was an American, and lived with and American Muggle man. Mr. Weasley asked her many questions, including questions about her Aunt Isabella, whom Mr. Weasley thought very high of.   
"You don't look much like your aunt," Mr. Weasley observed. "You look just like mother, though. Except your eyes, I don't know who your eyes belong too. Nobody in your mother's side of the family has eyes like that. I know them all very well."   
"You knew my mother?" she asked him. "Did you know her from Hogwarts?"  
Mr. Weasley laughed. "No, defiantly not. Your mom is much younger than me, she never was at Hogwarts when me and Molly were there. She came years later. I never met your mother. But I know your Grandmother very well, and of course everyone knows your Uncle!"   
"Oh, my Uncle Joey Parkerly, who owns Parkerly Candy? It's a very popular store back in Florida where he's from." Katrina said.  
Both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley laughed.   
"No, Katrina, I'm talking about your British Uncle. Well, I guess he'd be your great Uncle! But everyone in this room knows him!" he said.  
"I know Katrina's Uncle? What's his name, Dad?" Ginny asked.  
"Sure you do! And you kids won't believe it either. I can't believe she didn't tell you. I'd be bragging about having a great man like him for an uncle if I where you, Katrina. Why, I'm talking about -"  
Mr. Weasley was suddenly interrupted by Percy Weasley appearing in a corner in the dining room.   
"Percy, dear! I thought you weren't going to be home until much later. I would have waited for you to get here to eat dinner if I had known." Mrs. Weasley said.  
"Well, I was going to stay later, but my boss told me I should go home and relax. He said I should spend sometime with my family," Percy said, as he helped himself to food. "I'm really hungry, as you can tell. I didn't take a lunch break all day long. I didn't want to leave my work. It's terribly fascinating, my job is. I had to do a lot of paperwork today, so today was delightful. It's really great working with him, though."   
Percy started shoveling mashed potatoes into his mouth. Unfortunately, some of the potatoes fell out of his mouth and onto the floor.   
"PERCY WEASLEY!" Mrs. Weasley bellowed. "Where are your manners? Honestly! You know better than to eat like that! That is not proper table manner! Our guests will think we are a bunch of savage barbaric pigs!"  
"Oh, it's just Hermione." Percy said, still stuffing himself. (Hermione gave an insulted Humph!) from across the table.   
"Not just Hermione." Mrs. Weasley said. "Harry-"  
"Oh, hi, Harry," Percy said, looking at him. He had his spoon raised with even more mashed potatoes when his eyes flickered over to Harry's right, where Katrina Figg was sitting. Percy's spoon dropped to his plate with a loud clatter.   
Percy's jaw had dropped so far Harry wondered if it would fall right into his plate of mashed potatoes. His eyes had a faraway starry look, and his face turned bright red. He stared at Katrina in awe for what seemed like forever before he finally spoke.   
"Who....are......you?" he asked slowly, breathlessly as if they were the first words he ever spoke.   
"I'm Katrina Figg." she said calmly, as if redheaded young men making fools of themselves was an ordinary experience for her.  
"This is Harry's friend. She's going to Hogwarts next term as a fifth year. She lived in America, even though Britain is her homeland." Mrs. Weasley explained calmly. "She is the first transfer student Hogwarts ever had."   
Percy stared at her for a few moments. His lips were moving as if her were saying something but could not make any sound. Suddenly, he puffed up his chest and threw back his shoulders.   
"I am Percy Weasley. I graduated from Hogwarts School two years ago with top grades. I was Head Boy, and a Gryfindor Prefect for many years." he announced.  
"Oh, that's wonderful, Percy. I'm afraid I don't have any special titles like those." she said to Percy, smiling.  
There was an awkward silence to follow as Percy smiled dumbly at Katrina, staring into her green eyes like a fool. Mr. Weasley was the one to interrupt the silence. "Why don't you tell Harry and Katrina about your new job, Percy?" he said to his son.   
"I am Albus Dumbledore's' new personal assistant. I'm working in his in office at this home right now since school is out, but when school lets back in, I'll be working and staying at Hogwarts." Percy announced.  
"Uh, that's great, Percy." Harry said, not really meaning it. He could tell by the look on the Weasley brother's faces they were not very excited about having their bossy older brother back at Hogwarts. Although Harry liked Percy, he had to admit that it was kind of a relief not having him around all last year.   
Harry was suddenly driven away from his thoughts at the sound of Percy telling Katrina how wonderful Albus Dumbledore is.  
"Oh, but Katrina already knows Dumbledore, very well, in fact. She's Dumbledore's great niece, didn't you know?" Mr. Weasley said.   
Everyone except for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley turned and stared at Katrina in disbelief. She merely took a bite of her buttermilk biscuit, pretending to ignore the surprise of the people around her.   
"You really Albus Dumbledore's niece? How? I didn't know he had any family?" Hermione asked sounding very astonished, but very impressed.  
"He has two siblings, a brother and a sister. The sister is my grandmother, Abrella Dumbledore-Figg. She never uses her maiden name." Katrina explained.   
"Oh." said Hermione. She seemed satisfied with that answer.  
"It must be really cool to have such a well known relative!" Ginny said to Katrina.  
Katrina just shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal."  
Harry was just about to ask her a question when a large regal looking hawk owl suddenly appeared over Ron's head. The owl was wearing a pendant with the letter P engraved on it. The owl dropped a letter bearing a seal that Harry didn't recognize. Katrina caught the letter. "Oh, it's from my old school!" she said excitedly, tearing it open. She gasped, and dropped the message in her tomato soup.   
"What is it, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked as Katrina scooped the letter out, and furiously wiped bits of tomatoes off it.   
"It's my OWL scores! I've been waiting forever and ever to get my results back!" she told them.  
"You've already taken your OWL Exam? We don't take them 'till fifth year at Hogwarts! Ooooo, was it hard?" Hermione squealed enthusiastically, climbing over Ginny's lap to catch a glimpse of Katrina's letter.  
"Oh my God! You got an 18 3/4 score!" Hermione announced.  
"I bet that's really good." Ginny said. "I don't know anything about OWL exams, but if you toke that test, Katrina, and got that score, then it must be the best score ever." she added staring admirelingly at Katrina.  
"The best score you can get is a 20." Percy said. His eyes were full of stars, and his voice was breathless once again. "That means Katrina did brilliantly."  
"Well, that deserves a toast." Mr. Weasley said. He raised up his half drunken goblet of pumpkin juice. "Cheers" he said, as everyone followed suit.   
Everyone took a sip of their juice. Harry thought the silence was nice because as soon as they had swallowed their juice, Hermione and Percy began to talk endlessly at the same time, raising their voices louder and louder trying to be heard. Katrina could probably not understand either one. Not the starry eyed Percy who seemed like he could faint at the prospect of eating dinner with a beautiful American witch who was Albus Dumbledore's great niece, the first transfer student in Hogwarts history, and a scholar who received 18 3/4 OWLS. Hermione was just thrilled at the chance to get information from someone who had taken the exam, and got an almost perfect score.  
  
Harry finished his supper without speaking, and when he was finished, he headed outside to be alone with the many thoughts swimming thru his mind. But they were not about pretty girls (whether they be Cho Chang or Katrina Figg) or even OWL exams. No, Harry's mind kept returning to the one thing he had been fighting all day. His guilt over the fate of Cedric Diggory. 


	7. The Tragedy of Esmerllda Figg

Chapter Five:  
The Tragedy of Esmerellda Figg  
  
As soon as Harry sat down by that tree, his mind was buzzing so thick with thoughts, he wished he could borrow Dumbledore's Pensive so he could get rid of some of them. The sad lonely face of Cho Chang in the ice cream shop stood out most visible in Harry's mind. She was so unhappy. It was all Harry's fault. If he hadn't convinced Cedric to take the cup with him, Cedric would have lived. Cedric probably would have even see Harry vanish with the Portkey Cup, and maybe he could have gotten Dumbledore to help. Perhaps Lord Voldemort would not have risen if Dumbledore could have somehow gotten to him. Harry believed very strongly in the power that resided in the aging wizard and had no doubt that Albus Dumbledore could do just about anything.  
When a mosquito bit Harry in his left arm, Harry suddenly realized that night had fallen, and how long he had been sitting their alone with this unhappy thoughts. When he went inside the house, everyone was already asleep. Ron was sleeping in his orange Chudely Canons bed, and Harry noticed that someone (probably Mrs. Weasley) had conjured up another bed next to Ron's. The blankets were turned down, and Harry climbed inside, thinking grateful thoughts about Mrs. Weasley and her kindness.  
Harry fell asleep rather quickly, but his dreams were plagued with dark and disturbing images of Cedric Diggory. When Harry was jolted awake by a flying pillow eating him in the ear, he had no memory of his dreams.  
Harry opened his eyes, and put on his glasses to see that Hermione Granger was the one throwing the pillows. She was throwing some at Ron too, who grumping about being woken up, and rubbing his tired eyes.  
"Wake up, you! We've got things to talk about!" Hermione said urgently, holding a book.   
'Hermione, what could we possibly have to talk about at this hour of the morning?" Ron said, yawning.   
"Katrina Figg." Hermione said, opening the book.  
"What, did she give you OWL preparation tips or something?" Ron asked.  
"No." Hermione replied, throwing another pillow at him, hitting him in the chin.  
"What's the problem?" Harry asked.  
"I can't believe I didn't think of this before when I first heard her name! As soon as I heard her mother's name, and heard she was Dumbledore's niece, I knew!" Hermione said dramatically.  
"We all know Katrina's mom is dead. The thing is nobody knows who killed her or why. It's a big unsolved mystery. I bought this book at Flourish and Blots when I first got my Hogwarts letter five years ago. I hadn't read it since, and I sent an message with Pig to my house to have my parents send it to me. I just got it an hour ago." Hermione said.   
She flipped over the red book so that Harry and R on could read it's cover. The book was called "Unsolved Modern Magical Mysterious" by Wanda Gretchen-Gitcher.   
Hermione flipped to page 178. She began to read.  
  
  
"One of the most mysterious things that top Aurors  
and Magical Criminal Investigators can not explain   
is the disappearance and death of Miss Esmerellda   
Emulous Figg, a young witch who lived with her   
family in the Muggle village of Surrey, England.  
On the morning of July 11 1977, Figg's   
mother, Mrs. Abrella Dumbledore-Figg went  
upstairs to say something to her 22 year old daughter.   
When she arrived upstairs, her daughter was gone,  
and on the bed was a note saying that she had been  
taken away and would never been seen again.   
Mrs. Figg immediately notified The Ministry of Magic.  
Top Ministry Officials searched for the young witch,  
but she was never found alive. Abrella Figg, who had  
been a Top Auror for the Ministry joined the search.  
So did the victims uncle, Albus Dumbledore,   
Hogwarts School Headmaster. Other famous names   
Aurors and Ministry Officials participated in the   
search such as Alastor Mad-Eye) Moody, Barty Crouch  
and the late Frank Longbottom. Unfortunately, no   
clues were ever found. On November 15 1981,   
the body of Esmerellda Figgs was found lying  
alone in a small forest, about 200 miles north  
of London. Nobody has any idea how the body   
got there, or who her killers, and abductors were.  
  
"Katrina's mom was murdered!" Harry said astonished.  
"Well, that's the way it sounds." Hermione said. "This book was published in 1986, so it's not exactly up to date."  
"Why isn't Katrina's name mentioned?" Ron asked.  
Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. Maybe they did not know about her then. Maybe she was being held hostage by the people that held her mom."  
"Hey, what's that sound? Do you guys hear it?" Ron asked suddenly.  
Harry strained his ears until he could hear it too. It was the sound of a guitar being played. He looked out Ron's bedroom window, which overlooked the Weasley's garden.  
"Katrina is outside playing her guitar." he told them. "Wow! She sure got up early."   
Hermione and Ron looked out the window.   
"I wonder if she even knows who her real father is." Harry said. "She was she lost her parents when she was two years old. She can kind of remember what he looks like. She told me he could remember his eyes."  
Hermione sighed. "At least you know your parents names, Harry. She doesn't. That's so sad." she told them. 


	8. Broomstick Rides and Birthdays

Chapter Seven  
Broom Rides and Birthdays  
  
  
When Katrina came inside for breakfast a little later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione didn't say anything to her about what they learned about her mother's fate. Not that Harry even had the chance. Percy Weasley had been following Katrina around ever since he got out of bed. It was a good thing that Percy didn't have work that day. He was so busy telling Katrina about how well he had done on his NEWTs, and his exploits as Head Boy. Whether or not any of this mattered much to Katrina, was not known to Harry. Ginny Weasley was also very keen to talk to Katrina. Ginny had sort of a heroes worship for her. Katrina, who enjoyed designing and sewing much of her own clothing, was happy to teach Ginny how to repair minor snags, and the fading of colors from hers. Since much of Ginny's clothing came from a second hand store, a lot of it could use some repair.   
  
It was that morning when Hermione and Harry decided to join the Weasley siblings for some outdoor Quiditch practice.   
Ginny and Hermione sat on a blanket underneath a tree, shading them from the hot July sun, while the guys played. Hermione was busy working on a letter to Viktor Krum, while Ron made nasty faces every time he flew over Hermione. Harry guessed that he was still jealous. Ginny just laid their looking admiring up at Harry, and wondering out loud where Katrina had gone off to.   
The boys landed beside the pair to take a break. All that flying left Harry feeling a little sweaty, and he was too happy to be sitting next to his friends on the soft blanket.   
"Percy probably drug her off somewhere." Ron said wearing a bemused expression.   
Fred poked his younger brother in the ribs. "You sound a bit jealous."  
"I'm not jealous." Ron said firmly. He looked honest and sincere. "I think she's pretty and she seems nice but I don't like her that way. But Percy does."   
Harry felt that Ron was telling the truth, after all, Ron didn't know Katrina as well as he did.   
"Percy likes her!" Ginny squealed. "I know for a fact. Mum and me were listening to the new Weird Sisters song on the wireless, and Percy came in the kitchen. And he wouldn't talk about anything else but her! He's crazy about her. We couldn't even hear the song, he was so loud. And it was a pretty good song too…."  
"Hey, here they come now!" George interrupted, as Katrina and Percy were seen walking up the hill.  
"How come your not at work today, Percy?" Fred asked.  
"Oh." Percy said turning as red as his Weasley hair. "Dumbledore gave me the day off. He knew his niece was visiting here, and I asked if I could have time off to hang out with her. He let me have the day. Said there wasn't anything I needed to do today anyways. Great man, your uncle is, Katrina."  
Percy beamed a toothy grin, Katrina returned it with one of her brilliant smiles. The sight made Harry's heart break.  
"So, uh, Katrina, what's your favorite Quiditch team?" Ron asked.  
"Uh, I don't watch Quiditch. I don't care for sports much." Katrina replied. "I don't even know how to fly a broomstick."   
"You don't know how to fly a broomstick!!!!" Harry said flabbergasted. He simply could not believe that Katrina Figg couldn't fly a broom as excellently as she seemed to do everything else.   
"You don't like Quiditch!" Ron exclaimed.  
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, honestly! You two!" she said annoyed. "Do you really think everyone in the world has to like that bloody sport?"  
"Why not?" Ron said, answering Hermione. "It's a pretty good game."  
"I'm afraid all of the flying and athletic talent in the family went to my older cousin, Belinda. She plays Keeper." Katrina said, smiling at Ron's disgust over her lack of interest.   
"I can teach you to fly if you'd like." Harry volunteered, feeling a little brave.  
Percy frowned. "Oh, I don't think now is a good time for a flying lesson, Katrina. After all, I've got that surprise for you that I...."  
"It wouldn't take that long." Harry said interrupting Percy, who was giving him the look of death. "It'll be fun. What do you say?"  
Katrina shrugged her shoulders. "Do you have a broom I could borrow? One that doesn't go too fast or too high? I have never done this before, so I don't want anything too daring."   
"Katrina Figg, I've got just the perfect broom for you!" Ron said, thrusting his old broomstick into her arms. "My old Shooting Star. It's perfect! It doesn't go too fast or too high. It's too old to do any fancy tricks like that. It's just what you need."   
"Oh, thanks, Ron. It's nice of you to let me borrow it." she replied, as Ron blushed as red as his hair. He stammered something that sounded like "no problem".   
"So, you ready to learn?" Harry asked.  
Katrina nodded. "Well, I guess I am. You sure seem really willing to teach me? Gonna push me off my broom or something, Harry?"   
Harry laughed. "Now why would I want to do a thing like that?"  
Katrina gave him a wicked grin. "Because I ate one of your Chocolate Frogs yesterday." she said.   
Harry gave her a playful shove. "Eat my candy and maybe I will push you off your broomstick. Or just forget to teach you how to land so that you have to fly around forever and ever."  
"Oh, that would be nice of you." she said laughing.  
Percy cleared his throat loudly. He didn't look very pleased about Katrina's flying lesson.  
"It'll just be a few minutes, Percy, I promise!" Katrina said to him, flashing one of her typical knee weakening smiles.   
Harry led her off to a part of the field a few feet away from the others. He taught Katrina about how to mount her broom, and how to control it, and told her about landing. When she seemed to understand, the two of them got on their brooms and took of into the air.   
Flying was second nature to Harry, and it seemed to be the same way for Katrina. She sure didn't look like a beginner to Harry. She was doing flips and turns, and was flying faster and higher than Harry thought an old Shooting Star could ever do!   
"Be careful! That's a really old broom!" Harry heard Percy yell from below.  
Katrina must not have heard him because at that moment, she sped in between two tree branches, as she lifted the broom high into the air, Harry heard her give a terrible, high pitched, blood curling scream.  
Harry sped over to her as fast as he could. She was shaking her hands wildly at the top of the broomstick. Harry, who knew all about brooms, knew what was going to happen before it occurred. The broom suddenly jerked and flipped over, leaving Katrina, hanging upside down. She had one hand on the broomstick, when Harry reached her. As he graped for the hand that was dangling in the air, her other hand slipped. As Katrina fell down down down towards the hard earth below, the world seemed to run in slow motion for Harry. With quick reflexes born out of his Quiditch training, he dove straight down after her. It felt like another Quiditch game as he dove down to save her. This time, he had to catch something more precious and rare than the Golden Snitch, and there was something much more important on the line than a Gryfindor victory. Harry did not feel the hot sun beating down on his neck. Or the frightened cries of his friends, or Katrina's scream. He didn't notice Percy's face, white with terror. Harry didn't think about anything as he grapped Katrina's hand. He didn't notice that his own hand was slick with sweat, as he held her hand, her body dangling above the ground with only him to keep her safe from certain injury. He didn't know that he was a short and skinny boy, and Katrina was several inches taller than him, and he effortlessly lifted up his arm, flinging her in front of him, safe on his broomstick. It was a good thing he had his arm around her waist, because as soon as she landed in Hary's arms, she fainted. Harry made gentle landing on the ground, and the world began to play in the correct speed, and the sounds and sights of life returned to him.   
Percy was hysteric as he pulled Katrina into his arms. He shook her awake, and asked in a soft voice that Harry had never heard before if she was okay. Katrina nodded.   
"It was a spider." she said, sitting down on the blanket next to Ginny.   
"A spider?" Percy asked.   
"There was a spider on the broom. I tried to shake it off. I'm terribly afraid of spiders." she said breathlessly.  
"How did the spider get on the broom?" Percy said, giving Ron a deadly look.  
"It must have dropped from the tree." Harry offered.   
"That's probably what it was." Katrina said. She looked very pale.   
"Let's get you inside." Percy said, bringing her to her feet. I knew this was a bad idea right from the start. Are you sure you are okay?"  
"I'm fine." she reassured him. "It's just that damn spider. I'm so scared of them."  
Percy put his arm around her shoulders and led her away.   
"It's okay. Cheer up. I've got a special surprise planned for you." Percy told her, as they walked out of ear shot.   
"Cool rescue, Harry." Fred said.   
"Yeah, Harry! I'm so glad you saved her." Ginny said, grinning madly.   
"I wonder why Katrina's so afraid of spider." Hermione said thoughtfully.  
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being afraid of spiders. I don't like the bloody things myself." Ron said.  
"Yeah, but she acted a lot worse than you do!" Hermione said.  
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!" Ron said grumpily.  
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You know I didn't mean it like that!"   
"You know what I wonder?" Ron asked. They all asked what it was.  
"What Percy's surprise is!" he answered laughing.   
*************************************************************************************  
  
  
A couple hours later, Harry found out what Percy had in store. They were sitting at the table eating lunch. Percy had gone somewhere. Nobody really seemed to know where. Everyone was happily chattering amongst themselves when Percy burst in through the door holding a neatly wrapped pink package and a bouquet of red, yellow, and white roses. He handed both the roses and the box to Katrina.  
"Happy birthday." he said.  
"Oh thank you Percy!" she exclaimed, looking very surprised. "There so beautiful! You didn't have to get me anything!"   
"Today is your birthday, Katrina? You should have told me, I would have made you a cake! It's an awful shame to have a birthday with no cake. I'll make you one for dinner. How about that?" Mrs. Weasley said sweetly.  
"No need for that, Mum!" Percy said, smiling gauntly. "Why don't you open the box?"  
Katrina carefully untied to brilliant pink ribbon and tore through the pink paper. "Oh! Thank you, Percy!" she exclaimed. She lifted the box so that everyone else could see it. "A strawberry cheesecake! Oh I just love them! They are my favorite! Thank you so much, Percy!" she gave him a warm hug.   
"I bought it just for you." he said, blushing. "Fresh baked this morning."  
"Well, that was a thoughtful gift, Percy." Mrs. Wesley said. "But I'm still going to bake you a cake to go with dinner. I hope you like double fudge chocolate because that's what us Weasels like!"  
"It sounds great." Katrina said.  
"How come you never told me it was your birthday, Katrina?" Harry asked. He was a little hurt that Katrina had never bothered to tell him about her birthday. After all, he thought they were good friends. And she did spend all that money on him for his birthday!  
"I didn't want anyone to make a fuss." Katrina answered. "Percy only knew because he was in the room when the owls delivered cards to me this morning.  
"Oh." Harry replied, feeling a bit better. "I just wished I would have known, I would have liked to get you a gift." he said.  
Harry had time to finish his sentence when the door opened and two young men entered. It was Katrina's friends, Arizona Brown and Drew Fordson.  
"Happy birthday!" they said in unison.  
"Thanks guys!" Katrina answered. She introduced everyone and told the Weasleys and Hermione that they were two of her close American friends.   
"Hi Harry! Good to see you again!" Arizona said waving at him. Drew nodded in greeting.  
"Presents!" Drew said, placing his gift in her lap. Katrina opened it to find that it was a box of sheet music. "For you to write music for your guitar." he said. Katrina thanked him, and then opened up Arizona's gift. It was a very beautiful gold necklace with a charm shaped like the sun.  
"Very pretty, thank you Arizona." she said to her friend, giving him a warm hug. Percy scowled hostility.   
"It's a sun to remind you of the warm weather of Florida while you are here in England." he said. Arizona picked up the necklace and put it around her neck. "Now I know you never wear any necklaces besides that golden one you always wear, but I think you should."  
Katrina sighed. "We've talked about this before. You know that I'm really rather attached to this necklace and I don't like to wear others. It's really special to me."  
"Well, you're special to me." Arizona said. "And I want you to wear something that I gave to you. The sun charm is removable. Why don't you put it on your other chain, and where it with your necklace."  
"Okay. Great idea, Arizona." she said smiling.   
Arizona smiled back as Percy seemed like he would growl.   
"Well, we've better get back to the ol' USA" Drew said. "Your cousins would have been here but Belinda had a Quiditch game. She won."  
"Oh, good for her." Katrina said. "Thanks for the gifts, and thanks for coming to see me. I really miss you guys."   
She gave them each one last hug before they turned to leave.   
"We could never not come to see you on your birthday." Arizona said. "I just wish we knew where Lu had gone off to."  
Katrina sighed. "I had not forgotten about Lu, although being here with my new friends has provided a nice distraction. I worry a lot about Lu. I hope nothing has happened to him. Brenda told me in an letter everything that was known about his where abouts."  
"It'll all be okay. You don't worry about him." Drew said to her, as they walked out of the room, and left.   
Katrina took a bite out of her turkey sandwich and sighed.  
"Who were those two guys?" Percy asked impatiently.   
"Some friends." Katrina answered with a faraway look. "Just some friends."  
*************************************************************************************  
  
"So, who's that Lu guy Katrina was talking about?" Ron asked later that night. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting at the Weasleys kitchen table playing a game of Exploding Snap. It was dark outside. Ginny had already gone to bed. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had gone for a walk outside, and the twins were upstairs in their rooms making loud noises.   
"Some friend of Katrina's that's gone missing." Harry said. "He's a Brit born like she is. He lives in an American foster home. His parents were Death Eaters and were killed by Aurors when he was little."  
"Oh! Wow! And she's friends with him!" Hermione exclaimed. "Well, that's not too smart. He might be dangerous."  
Harry took a sip of pumpkin juice. "Where's Katrina at, anyway?"  
"She went out with Percy." Hermione said nonchalantly.  
Harry almost choked on his milk. "What! Where!" he asked, sounding a bit more frantic than the would have liked.  
"The Candlelight Cafe." Ron said. "It's a Muggle owned restaurant in the village. Real snobby place. Stuck up people running it."  
"I think it's really romantic." Hermione said with a dreamy look in her eyes. Harry tried to think about how Hermione was probably imagining going to a romantic place like that with Viktor Krum.  
"Expensive too." Ron said, ignoring Hermione. "Don't know how Percy could afford it. But I guess he could afford anything when he's all crazy about a girl like he is."  
"He sure forgot about Penelope Clearwater really quick." Hermione said.  
Ron laughed. "Yeah. One of my brother's in love with the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Never thought it'd be Percy! I thought he only loved his Head Boy badge!" he said. "Strange thing is that I think she fancies him too!"  
Harry's insides boiled at Ron's words. Under the table where his friends couldn't see, he kicked his feet at the floor.   
'So, Katrina liked Percy.' he thought. 'Well, that's okay. He didn't really like her, anyway. Percy could have her! After all, Harry liked Cho Chang. She was the one for him. Not Katrina Figg. After all, he just met her a couple weeks ago!  
It was not a pleasant thought, but it kept Harry from hurting, and it kept thoughts of his jealousy from swarming through his mind. This was all for the best because otherwise, he might have cursed all of Percy Weasley's red hair right off his head. 


	9. A Little Oddity

Chapter Eight  
A Little Oddity  
  
  
Harry slept late that next morning, and went downstairs to find that everyone else was already dressed and eating breakfast. Katrina seemed to be in a pleasant mood. She was chattering with Ginny about her plans for the day, which included a trip to Diagon Alley.   
"I want to visit Eyelops Owl Emporium." she said. "I need buy my own Apparition Owl."  
"An Apparition Owl? Those don't come cheap. Do you have the money? "Mr. Weasley said curiously.  
Katrina just smiled. "I can afford one."  
Mr. Weasley just nodded.  
"Well, I'll go with you, Katrina." Ginny announced. "I'll help you pick out the best one."  
Percy cleared his throat loudly.  
"Unless...er...unless you and Percy want to go by yourselves?" Ginny said awkwardly.  
"No! No!" Katrina said instantly. "Don't be silly, of course you can come, Ginny. I'm going to need all the help I can get."  
"Why?" Fred asked. "Eyelops has a good selection of owls. I'm sure you'll have no problem finding a good one."  
Katrina laughed. "No, that's not the problem, I'll see all the owls, and I'll want to take them all home!"  
Mrs. Weasley then suggested that everybody go together. The Hogwarts letters had just arrived, and they needed to get all their school things. In the end, that was what they decided to do.  
As soon as they got to Diagon Alley, Percy immediately tried to drag Katrina away from the others. But Katrina would not let him. "Ginny and I want to go look at the owls together." she told him. Percy sulked but in the end, he didn't get to steal her away all to himself.  
When Katrina asked to see the Apparition Owls, the wizard at the counter gave her a strange look. "There not cheap, girlie." he said in a grumpy sort of voice. If you don't have the gold, then don't waste my time!"  
Katrina simply took out a handful of gold coins and laid them on the counter. "I've got the money, so don't you waste my time." she said in a very annoyed voice.  
The man simply walked over to the door leading to a tiny room where the Apparition Owls were held. He said things underneath his breath. Harry figured that the wizard suspected Katrina stole the money or something.  
When they entered the room, they all saw that it was a small broom-closet like place with no windows and dim lights. The owls hooted anxiously at them.  
"You keep these owls locked up in this tiny room! That's horrible!" Hermione cried.  
"Well, this lot is quite valuable." the wizard told them. "You can't just let them sit around in the main showroom where everyone comes in and out. Someone might steal them. They might escape. No, they cost too much for that. Better this way."  
"Well, that doesn't matter." Katrina said angrily. "There still living creatures!"  
Percy put his arm around her shoulders and spoke soft words trying to calm her anger. It didn't work because she pushed him off her and stormed off into the opposite corner of the tiny room.  
"Poor things." she said in a sad sympathetic voice. Katrina looked all around the room at the owls, locked away in the dark cold room. Finally, she spotted a very strange looking bird. It was cotton candy pink, and had the body of an owl but the head of a parrot.   
"That's a horrible, ghastly looking bird. You don't want that one, little girl." said the wizard.  
"Ooooooo. What is it?" she asked, fascinated.   
The wizard sighed. "It's part owl, part parrot, part flamingo. Some freaky witch in Ireland was breeding them. Got in big trouble with the Ministry. The Ministry was going to destroy them but found that they had been trained to be very useful Apparition birds. So, they sent her here. But nobody will buy her. She's been sitting here for 17 months." "That's horrible! I think she's beautiful!" Katrina said.  
"Well, that's good somebody does. If you really want to do something good for her, give the bloody thing a home. If nobody takes her by the end of the week, I'm going to have to put her down." the wizard.  
Katrina gasped. "Oh no! You can't do that! I'll take her! I'll give her a good home!" she said frantically. "Just don't kill her!"  
"Okay, girlie. Relax. She's yours. If you can pay for her, that is." the wizard told.  
Katrina quickly opened up her hand bag and shoved some gold coins into his hand. The wizard picked up the bizarre looking bird's cage and ended it to Katrina.   
"You're really going to buy that ugly thing?" Percy asked flabbergasted. "But it horrible looking!"  
"She's not horrible. She's beautiful, and I'm going to call her Aphrodite, after the Greek goddess of love and beauty." Katrina told Percy indignantly. "I happen to think a little oddity gives things character."  
"Well, it's unusual, all right." George said chuckling.  
"Humph!" was Katrina's reply as headed towards the door. "What do you think Harry?"  
"I think if you like her, that's all that matters." Harry said carefully. "At least nobody else at Hogwarts will have one like her!"  
Katrina beamed.  
"Hey Katrina." Hermione said as they walked down the street. "I think Aphrodite is a little too heavy of a name for an owl. How about Aphro for short?"  
Katrina shook her head. "No way! That sounds too silly."  
"How about Rod?" Fred suggested. Katrina laughed.  
"No, I don't think that gives the same effect." she said smiling.  
"How about O' Dite?" George offered laughing. "Everyone will think you have an Irish Owl!"   
Katrina grinned.   
"Ro" was Percy's suggestion, but Katrina said it was too short of a name.  
Harry finally suggested just plain 'Dite'.   
"That's an awesome idea, Harry!" Katrina exclaimed. "That sounds just right. Dite. Perfect!"  
"Wish I would have thought of that." Percy grumped under his breathe. Fred, George and Ron laughed at this.  
Katrina treated everyone for ice cream before they headed back home. As they were sitting at the table, Harry noticed that Katrina was wearing the golden sun charm on her necklace. Along with it, was another charm, the one that she always wore. It clashed horribly with Arizona Brown's gift.   
Harry couldn't help but stare at it. She usually wore it tucked inside her blouse. It was a long, golden tube with what looked like emeralds, and a single silver spiral circling it. It was a very beautiful piece of jewelry, and it was no wonder to Harry why she never wanted to take it off. 


	10. Keep Your Friends Close

Chapter Nine  
Keep Your Friends Close  
  
Despite Katrina and Percy's relationship, Harry had a wonderful time at the Weasleys. Percy couldn't get everyday off from work, so while he was busy at the office, Katrina was free from Percy's fussing over her. Everyone thought she was much more fun to be around without Percy there. Percy was very protective, but when he was gone, Katrina was much more adventurous. There were many extremely tall trees in the Weasley's back yard, and Katrina liked to climb up to the tallest branches. She told them about the Parachuter Spell, a fun little spell that was mostly for recreational purposes.   
With the spell, you would call out the incination, and then jump off something. When you jumped, you would fall only fast enough to be fun, it would slow your fall down just enough so you can land safely. It would make your landings safe and soft, and you'd always land solidly on your two feet Katrina old him the spell was mostly used by people who fell off their broomsticks, so it might help Harry if he ever got knocked off his broom during a Quiditch match. She promised to teach them all the spell when they returned to Hogwarts. Harry thought it looked like great fun, but Katrina told him he'd after to practice jumping off the first couple stairs in the staircase or something else that wasn't too terribly high up. Otherwise it might he might break a bone.  
Katrina said she felt a bit foolish, because she should have remembered the spell when she fell from Ron's broomstick. She guessed the shock of the situation caused her to not remember her spell. As much fun as she had jumping off trees, she refused to go anywhere near a broomstick. Ginny later told them that Percy made her promise not to ride one again. Apparently, he was worried that she might fall off again, and wouldn't have anyone to save her.   
Before Harry knew it, it was the night before September 1rst, the day that they always board the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 3/4. Harry was having a rough time getting to sleep that night. Mrs. Weasley had prepared an excellent feast, full of all Harry's favorite things. All the different foods must have upset his stomach, because he kept waking up in the middle of the night from strange dreams. They weren't connected to Voldermort or the Death Eaters. No, they weren't anything like that. They were just strange dreams. The type that any ordinary person would have after consuming as many calories as Harry just had. That thought pleased Harry. He loved the idea of being an ordinary wizard without a care in the world, but he knew as long as he lived, that dream would never come true.   
After one such dream, he awoke to hear soft music playing somewhere in the house. Ron was fast asleep, snoring lightly. Harry had the feeling that he was the only one in the house that could hear it.   
He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. He sighed. He should have known better. Sitting next to the fireplace, was Katrina, gently strumming her guitar. She didn't know Harry was standing in the shadows watching her. He was glad because he was too busy trying to fight the feelings he had inside him. She was beautiful in the soft glow of the fire. The warmth coming from it seemed to light up her face, especially those green eyes. She wore a peaceful expression on her face, concentration fully on her guitar. Harry knew she loved that guitar more than anything else in the world. She wore a violent shade of pink terrycloth robe over a baggy button down rose colored silk night shirt, and matching silk shorts. It was her feet that made Harry smile, on them she wore a pair of fuzzy pink bunny slippers. Just like the kind that Muggle housewives and very young Muggle girls wore. A soft chuckle escaped his lips.  
Katrina stopped playing and turned her face towards him. Wearing the knowing smile of a spinx, she spoke.  
"Are you laughing at my slippers, Harry?" she said in a voice so soft, it was almost a whisper.  
"Well, er, uh, yeah." was his sheepish reply as he sat down next to her.  
She giggled. "They're kind of funny looking, aren't they? Well, I think they're neat."  
Harry smiled. "I think so too."  
"You didn't come down here to talk about my bunny slippers, did you?" she asked.   
"I heard music, and I came down to investigate." he said.   
"Oh." she answered. "Did you like my song?"  
"You have a beautiful voice." Harry blurt out. He immediately felt a bit foolish for saying something like that.   
You like Cho Chang, remember! he thought to himself. She's Percy's girlfriend.  
Katrina didn't seemed to think anything of Harry's remark, her smile stayed the same.  
"Percy said he didn't like that song. He said it was too sad." she told him nonchalantly.   
"You played a song on your guitar for Percy?" he asked curiously. He had a feeling he didn't want to know the answer.  
"No, I never play for anyone." she said as a matter of fact. "I only play for myself. Percy asked me to play a song, but I didn't do it because he wanted me to, I did it because I love music."  
Harry didn't know what to say to this, so he remained silent and waited for her to speak.  
"Tomorrow morning we leave for Hogwarts." she said solemnly, as the warm light from the fireplace danced on her cheek.  
Harry nodded. "You'll like it there. I know you will. It's not as bad as you think it will be. You'll make lots and lots of friends."  
Katrina titled her head towards the ground.   
"And even if you don't make any friends, which you will, it doesn't really matter because you'll have me there."  
She turned her head up, and beamed. Her gaze embraced Harry's eyes, and he felt a shiver run down his spine, despite the crackling fire behind him.   
"And you'll have Ron and Hermione there too." he quickly added as an afterthought. "And Fred and George, and Ginny."  
Katrina laughed. "How could I possibly feel lonely with all those Weaselys running around Hogwarts?"  
Harry grinned. "I don't know. How could you?"  
With just Harry's few words, Katrina's heart lightened. "Thanks, Harry. I feel so much better now." she told him.  
"I'm glad." Harry replied.  
They sat there staring at each other for a few moments without speaking. It was Harry to break the silence with the questions spinning through his mind ever since the morning Hermione had so rudely awoke him and Ron.  
"Katrina?" he asked.  
"Yes, Harry?" was her answer.  
He took a deep breathe. "I know about your mother."   
There. He'd said. She looked at him in silence with an unreadable expression, one eyebrow arched.  
"Oh." she said breaking the silence. "Oh."  
The cold, solemn look returned to her face, and Harry felt horrible for bringing up something like that, after he had cheered her up. And on the night before Hogwarts too!  
"What do you know about my mother, Harry?" she said with no emotion.  
"Er......She disappeared and was murdered. Probably by dark wizards or witches." he said feeling very awkward and selfconcious.   
She looked at him again with a piercing stare. He felt a shiver run through his heart.   
"My mother." she began. "My mother, well, I presume you found this information in an old newspaper or some book?"  
"Er, yeah, uh, Hermione found it in a book about unsolved mysteries in the magical world." he said feeling embrassed. He didn't understand why she would be upset by this. If it was in books, could he not accidentally stumble upon that information somehow? Besides, Harry was in books and everyone in the wizard world knew the story of his tragic childhood.  
"There's more than what meets the eye to every situation, Harry" she said. "Things are not always what they seem, remember that."  
"Er, okay." Harry said. "It's really sad, though, that your mother was kidnapped like that."  
Katrina stood up and headed towards the door. Before she went through it she turned to Harry and spoke. "There are things about my life that you or nobody else will ever be able to understand. There are still many mysteries that I do not understand."   
Harry walked toward her. "It's like that with me too, Katrina." he said in a soft voice, a hushed whisper.   
She smiled. "We are two very similar people, Harry. And yet, I'm not like you at all."  
Harry shook his head. "I don't think I understand what you are saying. Your so much like me that it's scary. I've never really met anyone like this before. You understand me better than anyone else because you've lived through some of the same experiences that I have."  
Her smiled widened and became more mysterious. "More than you know, Harry. More than you know." He eyes seemed different to Harry somehow. There was a certain glow to them, they seemed so familiar. Something told him that he seen them before, not in his dreams, not before she showed up on Privet Drive, but somewhere else. Some time long ago.  
She leaned forward and did something very unexpected. "Goodnight, Harry." she said in a melodious voice, and she bent in close and kissed him on the cheek. Her lips lingered on his flesh for barely a spilt second, but it was enough. Without speaking, she turned and walked up the stairs to the room she was sharing with Ginny and Hermione.   
Harry stood there in the kitchen doorway for about ten minutes, in total awe of what had just occurred. He felt happy, and numb, and a bit ill at the same time, all over his body. Then he left the kitchen and walked up those same steps that Katrina had just treaded a few minutes earlier, and headed to the bed where he would lie but not sleep.   
**************************************************************************Harry climbed out of bed to a hectic morning. No matter what preparations were made the night before, somehow there seemed to be difficulties. People naturally seemed to misplace things, pr forget last minute tasks that need to be done. Harry was grateful that Percy left for his work before they went to King's Cross. He knew that Percy would be able to see Katrina at the feast that night, but he had a feeling that Harry would drag out a long goodbye, or at least get emotional. Harry had no desire to see Percy the stuffy Head Boy and Prefect getting romantic and mushy over a girl.   
Mrs. Figg was nice enough to loan the Weasleys her pink car, which had been repaired, for the day. Harry was not surprised to see that this car had magical qualities like the other wizard and witch owned cars he had ridden in before.   
Passing through the barrier at Platform 9 3/4 was easy as could be, although Mrs. Weasley made them a bit late by hugging and saying tearful good-byes to all her children. She gave Harry an especially big hug and told him to be extra extra careful. She even hugged Hermione and Katrina. When she hugged Katrina, Harry thought he heard Mrs. Weasely say something about how proud she was that Katrina was dating her son.  
Soon, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Katrina were all seated in their own compartment. Fred and George went off to see their friend, Lee Jordan. Sitting on the seat next to them were Hedwig, Pig, and Dite, all in their cages. Hermione let Crookshanks out of his cat carrier, where he was snoozing peacefully on the floor.   
As the day went on, Katrina seemed to become more and more anxious about her new school. Ron and Hermione seemed to notice her nervousness. Ron tried to distract her by making jokes, and Hermione pulled out her copy of Hogwarts, A History to show Katrina just how wonderful life at her new boarding school could be. Hermione was pleasantly shocked to see that Katrina already owned a copy and had read it a few times herself.   
"Finally." Hermione sighed. "Someone who's read Hogwarts, A History! I was getting awfully tired of being the only one who knew anything!"  
Her nervousness must have made her hungry, because when the witch came by with the trolley of sweets, and snacks, Harry thought Katrina might buy the entire lot! Not only did she buy snacks for all of them, but for herself, she bought a large variety of different treats. Katrina said it was because she lived in a different part ofd the world, she had never been exposed to any of those sweets. In fact, it seemed that Katrina bought everything except for......  
"Pumpkin juice!" she explained. "I forgot the pumpkin juice!"   
At that moment, Draco Malfoy walked in there compartment, with Crabbe and Goyle just behind him.  
"Ah, look." he said with an baneful smirk. "It's Potty and the Weasel, and they even brought along their Mudblood friend. Aren't you afraid to return to the wizzarding world after what happened?"  
In answer, Harry silently and swiftly arose from his seat, put his hand in pocket ready to use his wand if necessary, and put on and expression of intense hatred.  
"You won't be so lucky the next time, Potter." he said in voice marked by pride and loathing. Malfoy looked around the compartment and gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione a slow, long look of revulsion. Then his eyes fell upon Katrina. Busy with his intense dislike of Harry, he had overlooked the beautiful young woman sitting quietly in the corner. His face immediately change into an expression of wonder and curiosity. It startled Harry.  
Malfoy walked slowly walked towards Katrina. Harry, who had been sitting in the seat next to her, tried to block Malfoy from getting to her, afraid he might say something hateful to her. But Malfoy just pushed on past, and seemed to be unaware of Harry, or anyone else in that matter.   
"Who are you?" Malfoy asked mystified.  
She blushed. "My name is Katrina Figg."   
Malfoy looked her over from head to toe. He puffed his chest a bit and spoke again. "My name is Draco Malfoy, the son of Lucuis Malfoy. I'm sure you've heard of my family. We're a very noble wizzarding family and come from a long long line of pureblood wizards and witches."   
"Malfoy? Hmmmmmm." she said thoughtfully. "I think I've heard that name somewhere before."  
"Well, you probably have." Malfoy said braggidly. "It's powerful respectable, great name. I suppose you are a pureblood? From the look of you, I can tell that you must be. Mudbloods and half-bloods, well, they don't look anything like you do."   
Katrina smiled faintly. It was not a smile that Harry recognized. She had a glint of something in her eyes that Harry could not name. It made him feel quite nervous. What could Katrina possibly be up to?  
"My grandmother and grandfather were top Aurors for the Ministry of Magic, my great uncle is none other than Albus Dumbledore, himself." she said. "I guess you could say I am a pureblood, although it matters very little to me."  
Malfoy looked very shocked and a bit taken back. "Dumbledore is your uncle?" he said with one eyebrow raised. "No wonder Potter here is hanging around you. He's always been Dumbledore's favorite little boy." He frowned. "Well, your birth line is pure, even though it may not be as noble as I like my associates to be. But all in all, it is pure as mine."   
Hermione scowled at him. "Leave her alone, Malfoy." she said.  
Either Malfoy didn't hear her, or he just ignored Hermione. Either way, Hermione's threat got no reaction from Malfoy.   
"Would you like to come for a walk with me, Katrina" he asked, offering her his hand. "I'll buy you a pumpkin juice."  
Katrina accepted his hand, and Malfoy pulled her from her seat. "As a matter of fact, I just noticed that I'd forgotten to buy some with the witch with the cart came by." Together, they walked toward the compartment door.  
Harry, in both disgust and shock, called out to her. "Katrina!" he cried. "Where are you going?!"  
"Shut up, Potter." Malfoy said coldly. "The lady has obviously made her choice. She's going with me."  
Katrina turned her head and smiled at Harry before shutting the compartment door. It was the Katrina Figg her recognized, the smile that he knew.  
"Don't worry, Harry. I'm just going out for a few minutes. It's just a simple walk. I'll be perfectly fine." she reassured him.   
"Coming Katrina?" he heard Malfoy call.  
"I'll be back in a minute. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. Believe me." she said, then disappeared from Harry's view as the compartment door shut behind her.   
"Crabbe, Goyle, get lost for a while. I want to be alone." Harry could her Malfoy order before their voices vanished.   
  
Harry was utterly disgusted. "Did you just see that?!" he said, kicking the wall of the train in anger. "Ow!" he cried. Apparently, he'd kicked a little too hard.  
Ron smirked. "Kicking the train won't do you any good, Harry. You'll only break your big toe and that might affect your Quiditch performance."  
Harry was not amused.  
"Why would she run off like that with him?" he fumed.  
"Well, maybe she just wanted some pumpkin juice." Hermione suggested, putting her hand on his arm in a comforting fashion. It did little good to comfort him, especially since it was just the type of gesture that Katrina always did.  
"Can't she tell that Malfoy is bad news? She saw how he treated all of us, how he talked to all of, how he spoke about you and your family, Hermione! And she's supposed to be our friend!" Harry cried. "And in just like that, she walks off with someone who said all those terrible things! He was flirting with her like crazy! He only likes her because she's with us, and because she's Dumbledore's niece. She comes from a powerful family. Malfoy comes from a power hungry family full of Death Eaters."  
Harry shook his head in revulsion. "Can't anybody else see what's going on but me?"  
"Ofcourse, we know why Malfoy is so interested in Katrina. And of course we know that it's really terrible and pretty bloody stupid for her to be nice to him. Not to mention dangerous for her." Ron said calmly. "Of course we know all this. But we all know that she will back in a few minutes and we can explain to her exactly what Malfoy is. She probably just doesn't know any better."  
"Ron is right." Hermione said. "She's very ignorant of how life is in Britain for wizards and witches. And especially at Hogwarts. She doesn't know that Malfoy's parents are Death Eaters, and she probably doesn't comprehend how big of a problem that Death Eaters are here because things are a lot safer in America since it's so far away."  
Harry thought about what Hermione was saying for a moment. It did make sense.   
"And she is very concerned about making friends when she gets to Hogwarts. She is afraid that nobody will like her, and she'll be lonely and friendless. I guess she figured that Malfoy would at least be her friend since he was paying attention to her." Harry said.  
"Katrina was worried about being alone?" Hermione said shaking her head.   
"What about us? Didn't she think me and Hermione were her friends, besides you?" Ron asked.  
Harry sighed. "I don't know guys. I just don't like the idea of her being alone with Malfoy. I don't trust him."  
"Why would you trust him, Harry? It's not like he's your friend? He's only done you harm!" Hermione said, laughing.  
"I think you have feelings for this girl, don't you, Harry?" Ron said in a teasing voice. "It's not a matter of you worrying that Malfoy would hurt her. You're just jealous!"   
"I am not!" Harry began to yell back but Hermione spoke first.  
"That's stupid, Ron. Everybody knows that Katrina is dating your brother. We can all tell he's absolutely in love with her. Harry would never try to steal someone else's girlfriend. That's not right!" she said.  
As soon as Hermione finished her statement, the compartment door slid open. Harry held his breathe for a moment hoping that it would be Katrina returning safe and sound, but he was disappointed to see that it was Neville Longbottom.  
"Hi Neville." Harry said glumly.  
Neville didn't seem to pick up on Harry's disappointment. He looked too miserable with his own troubles to care about anyone else's.  
"I've lost Trevor! I don't know where to find him! I've looked all over the train." he said with a look of great unhappiness on his face.   
For a moment, a flash of hope lit up the sad boys face.  
"You haven't seen Trevor? Have you?" he asked.  
The three of them shook there heads no.   
Neville sighed. He flopped onto the seat where Katrina had been sitting. "I just don't know what I'm going to do." he said downheartedly.   
Before they could begin to handle Neville's problem, another problem walked into their compartment. Except this problem had aurborne hair, and wore a red short sleeved glittery sweater, black glitter jeans, red imitation snakeskin boots, and a very exotic and expensive necklace.  
"I'm back!" Katrina Figg said in syrupy cheery voice. "Did ya miss me?"  
"Terribly." Harry said in a quiet voice under his breathe. Lucky for him nobody heard.  
In her arms she carried a glass bottle of pumpkin juice and a green toad.  
"Trevor!" Neville cried overjoyed. He scooped the toad right out of her arms and sat it in his lap.  
"I take it that this is your pet." Katrina said, half laughing. "The Hogwarts Express sure is a crazy place. With toads running around all over the place and such."  
Harry grapped her by her hand a lead her into a corner of the compartment opposite Neville, Hermione and Ron. They were so distracted by Trevor, and Neville's happiness, that nobody gave much thought to Katrina or Harry.   
"Are you all right, Katrina?" Harry whispered.  
"Of course I'm all right. Why wouldn't I be?" she whispered back with a stunned look on her sweet face.  
"You were with Draco Malfoy." he said in an expressionless voice.  
"So?" was her reply.  
"So Draco Malfoy is a very dangerous person. His parents are Death Eaters and he will probably be one too as soon as he is old enough. He's very racist and hates people that don't come from pureblood families. He's always very hateful to Hermione. You heard the way he talked to her. And he's always causing trouble for me and Ron."  
Katrina nodded her head. "So, basically he's your rival. An enemy of sorts?" she whispered.  
"Exactly." Harry replied. "That's why I don't really want you hanging around with him. He's not a nice person and I don't want him to hurt you. I know you want to make friends when you come to Hogwarts, but you can't make friends with him. He's just not the good sort of wizard."  
"Friends?" Katrina asked. "Friends?" she repeated. "You think I want to be friends with Draco Malfoy, son of Lucuis and Narcussia Malfoy?"   
Katrina laughed. It was a strange cold laugh. One unlike any that Harry had ever heard before.  
"Oh Harry, there's so much you have got to learn." she whispered, putting her hand on his cheek. She leaned forward, very close to him. Like she was going to kiss him, but Harry knew he was not about to be kissed. Not by Percy Weasley's most beloved girlfriend. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that old saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Well, that's what I am doing. I'm keeping my enemy closer. I know what the Malfoys are. I know what they are better than you do, Mr. Harry Potter."  
She turned away from him and sat down next to Neville. Harry just stood there in silence wondering what had taken place. He didn't understand anything, but it seemed like he never understood anything since Katrina Figg walked into his life.  
"What ever happens, Katrina Figg." he whispered in his mind, as he watched her play with Neville's toad, "Just remember to keep your friends close too. You know that I'd always be there for you."  
Harry shook his head, in attempt to shake his wrongful love for Katrina out of him. She belonged to Percy. His heart should belong to Cho Chang, like it used to before.  
But somehow, it just didn't feel that way anymore.   
  
Author's Note:  
Originally, the events occurring in Chapters 9, 10, and some of 11 would be one big chapter. But I decided that it would be too long, too hard for the readers to read, too hard for me too write, and it would be much better if it was split up into three smaller chapters. I hope this does not make anybody mad!  
-Amanda 


	11. The Sorting

Chapter 10   
The Sorting  
  
Katrina and Neville seemed to be getting along very well. Apparently, Katrina had always been fascinated by frogs and toads, and always wanted her own pet frog, but she could never have one because her Aunt Isabella that she lived with was terribly afraid of reptiles. Neville seemed to be better at making Katrina seem less nervous about Hogwarts than Ron, Hermione or Harry could ever do. Harry was surprised how well Katrina was getting along with Neville. He didn't think either one like the other romantically, but he was glad Katrina had made a friend that wasn't Draco Malfoy. After all, Neville may be a bit clumsy, but he was a really nice guy, and he was Harry's friend.  
Finally, they arrived at Hogwarts and left the train. Katrina had to join the first years in the boats to go across the lake. After all the first years were sorted, Katrina would come into the Great Hall. Professor Dumbledore would introduce her, and then she would be sorted. As Harry got into his carriage with Ron, Hermione and Neville, he crossed his fingers hoping that she would be in Gryfindor.   
"Your friend is a really nice girl, Harry." Neville said. Harry just nodded. He was too nervous for Katrina to speak.  
As Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table with his friends and fellow Gryffindors, he noticed that there were two new faces at the Head Table. Percy Weasley was sitting at the table looking very smug.   
"Dumbledore lets him sit there during meal times." Ron said. "He's gloating like crazy. I'm glad your not going to sit at the Prefects table, Hermione. I couldn't stand having you over there, and Percy over there. It's too weird. I wish Percy would just go home."  
Then Harry noticed the other new face was none other than Drew Fordson.  
"Hey, that's one of Katrina's friends!" Harry exclaimed.   
Hermione and Ron spun around and stared.   
"Oh my goodness! That is him!" Hermione cried. "I wonder what he's doing here!"  
"Maybe he's the new Dark Arts Professor." Ron suggested, noticing how Professor Snape was scowling at him.  
"But he's so young looking! He couldn't be our teacher, could he?" Hermione asked.  
"You never know who Dumbledore will pick these days. It's not like he's made the best decsions when it's come to picking people for that job." Harry said.  
Just then, Dumbledore rose to make an announcement. Harry saw the door's open and a long line of first years come through. Harry could see Katrina standing at the end of the line. Standing next to all those first years, she looked much much older.   
"Welcome everyone to a new school year. Hopefully, it will be another wonderful year of learning and friendship. And new faces. Along with all our new students, I'd like to introduce to you our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Drew Fordson."   
Everyone clapped. Many girls seemed to be clapping extra hard. Harry judged that it was because Drew Fordson was a very good-looking young man. He was happy to see Hermione was not one of the ones going crazy. He didn't want a repeat of what happened his second year when Hermione went nuts over Gilderoy Lockhart.  
"Also." Dumbledore continued. "I'd like to re-introduce you to Mr. Percy Weasley. Most of you will remember him as a Head Boy we had a two years ago. Percy is working here as my personal secretary and assistant. Therefore, he is an official of this school, and will be eating meals with us. I also want you to treat him and respect him as an official of this school. Like teachers, he has the power to take and give house points. Anyone who is disrespectful to him will be punished the same as if they were disrespectful to me or any other teacher or official of this school."   
Students murmured at their tables. Many of them who had to deal with Percy's bossiness and down-to-business style were not happy about him returning. Others who had liked Percy were very pleased.  
Next it was time for the Sorting Ceremony. Harry didn't pay much attention as new Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Slytherins joined their houses. Harry's thoughts were on Katrina.  
Finally, when the only person left standing was Katrina, Dumbledore made an announcement telling everyone her name, that she was a fifth year transfer student, the first one in Hogwarts history, and although she was British born, she had lived in America most of her life. Harry noticed that Dumbledore did not mention that she was his niece. Harry supposed people would find that fact out eventually and did not want them to think he was playing favorites.  
Finally, the moment of truth came. The Sorting Hat was placed on Katrina's head. It sat there for a few moments, and then screamed out GRYFFINDOR   
Harry heard his table explode in cheers an applause. Harry himself was the loudest one.  
She seemed to float on air as she came over to their table, and slid into and empty seat next to Ginny.  
"Congratulations, Katrina." Ginny said.  
"Thanks." was her reply.   
Katrina smiled at Harry. "You knew I was going to be in Gryffindor, didn't you Harry?"  
Harry smiled. "How could you be in any other House?" he replied, feeling very relieved and very warm inside. 


	12. Harry and Katrina's Secrect

Chapter 11  
Harry and Katrina's Secret   
  
Author's Note:  
I know that I spelled a certain Professor's name wrong! Heck, not only did I spell it wrong, I butchered it! And I probably spelled Seerer wrong too! I can't find my books, so until I can find them, just roll your eyes at me, and move on! lol! I'll fix it next chapter, I promise! So don't yell at me, please! lol. Hey, I'm not JK Rowlings! How am I supposed to spell all those weird words right! :- Let me know what you think about this chapter! Your opinion about the way it ended is really important to me because I've got some big ideas for chapter 12!  
-Amanda  
  
The next morning at breakfast, schedules were being passed out. Harry was very pleased to see that Katrina was in all of his classes except Herbology. At Katrina's school, they never taught Herbology, so she was put into a class with first years. It didn't seem to bother her at all.  
Harry was very disappointed to see that his first class of the day was Double Potions with Snape and the Slytherins.  
"Damn." cursed Ron. "I was hoping we wouldn't have to have class with the ruddy Slytherins anymore."  
After breakfast, they headed down to the dungeons. Harry found a very long table, where he Ron, Hermione, and Katrina could all sit together. Neville, who was almost late for class, joined them as well. Katrina seemed very happy to see her new friend.  
Draco Malfoy walked towards Katrina, wearing a pretentious smirk, but before he could say anything, Snape burst thru the dungeon door, and Malfoy flopped in a desk by Crabbe and Goyle several rows in front of them.   
"Good morning class." Snape said in that silky oily voice he always used, it was obvious to everyone that he didn't care whether or not they had a good morning. "Another summer break has sped by, and once again I have to try to teach you dunderheads something about Potion Making. Hopefully, you haven't gotten any more foolish that you were last year. But if you had, I'm surprised some of you could even find your way into my dungeons."   
He turned and gave a particularly nasty look at Harry, but then his face changed as his eyes fell upon Katrina Figg. His lips turned from the sneer he was treating Harry to into a very warm smile. Harry was shocked. Snape never smiled, oh, sure he sometimes smirked, but that was different.  
"Ah." said Snape. "Miss Katrina Figg, I presume?"  
She nodded. "Hello Severus." she said in a soft, embarrassed voice.  
"Ahem?" was Snape's reply. "I believe I'm your Potions Professor now. Please call me by my last name." He was still smiling.   
"I bet if any other student called him by his first name, he would have put the curse of the bogies on them." Ron whispered in Harry's ear.  
"It's good to have you here at Hogwarts, Miss Figg," continued Snape. "But don't go making friends with the wrong sort."  
His eyes flitted towards Harry. Then he turned and looked at Neville.  
"I see your sitting here next to Neville Longbottom." sneered Snape. "Perhaps because you are new to this school you would not know that Longbottom is a walking disaster. He destroys everything he gets his hands on, and can not perform the most simple potions imaginable. It's quite dangerous for you to be sitting so near to him, Miss Figg. It would be a very wise decision that you move do a different seat. Perhaps switch with Potter."  
He gave Harry a look of intense loathing.  
"It would be no tragedy if Longbottom blew you up, Potter. But Miss Figg, here, is too valuable and too important to be put in such a dangerous position."  
"Look at Neville" whispered Hermione. "Poor thing. He looks close to tears."  
Harry glanced over at Neville. Sure enough, he looked very upset.  
But Katrina knew how to fix the situation.  
"Neville is my friend." she said firmly. "I choose to stay her with him."  
"Very well." replied Snape, and he turned and walked to the other side of the room.  
"Did you see that?" Ron whispered excitedly. "She sure told him! If anybody else told Snape off he's linch 'em! Look at Neville! He looks like he could just float away."  
Just like Ron said, Neville's face was now bright and radiant.  
Snape began the lesson. He taught them about a potion that cured acne. Since the students were 15 years old and many of them had spotted complexions, Dumbledore had apparently recommended teaching the class about the potion. Snape didn't seem too happy about it.   
Finally the bell rang. Harry, Ron, Neville and Hermione sped out into the hallway, like all the other students did when a Potions lesson ended. Strangely, Katrina lingered inside the classroom with Professor Snape. Harry heard a bizarre sound. It was warm, friendly, hearty laughter. It wasn't Katrina. It was much to masculine to be her beautiful feminine laugh. There was nobody else in the classroom. It had to be Snape.  
"What could she possibly be doing in there with him?" Ron asked.  
"I haven't the slightest idea." replied Hermione.  
"You don't think he's putting a curse on her or something?" asked Neville, who was very afraid.  
Harry laughed. ""No, I don't think that's what he is doing. Strange as it sounds, I think Snape actually likes her!"   
"But Snape doesn't like anybody!" exclaimed Neville.  
"Unless your a Slytherin." added Ron.  
Suddenly, Katrina burst thru the classroom door wearing a big smile on her face. She must have noticed the curious expressions that they were giving her because she raised one eyebrow and asked "What?!"  
"What were you doing in there with Shape" asked Ron and Harry at the same time.  
"What was with you and him during class?" asked Neville and Hermione at the same time.  
Katrina just shook her head and tutted.  
"Snape is an old friend. I haven't seen him in a long time." she said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.  
"Snape is your friend?!" Neville asked flabbergasted. "But Snape can't be your friend! Snape doesn't have any friends! How could he? He's too mean!"   
"He's not that mean when you get to know him. He's just a little hard on his students because he expects a lot out of them." Katrina replied.  
"Yeah!" exclaimed Neville. "He expect us to be terrified of him!"  
"Neville, don't you think you ought to be off to your next lesson? We don't want you to be late." said Hermione in that superior voice of hers.  
Neville, who could obviously tell he was not wanted at that particular moment, shrugged his shoulders and headed off to his next class. "See you later, Katrina!" he called in a parting.  
"What's going on, Katrina?" asked Hermione. "You've got to tell us. We're your friends. You've got to tell us. It was positively creepy with you and Snape in there a minute ago. We heard him laughing. Snape never laughs."  
"Unless I do something stupid," Harry added.  
"Opps! I forgot about that. Snape never laughs unless Harry does something stupid. So, what's going on?" Hermione continued.  
"I already told you." answered Katrina. "Snape is just an old friend of the family. We had a bit of catching up to do. And I called him Severus out of habit, that's all."  
Nobody could think of anything to say to this. They just stood there staring at each other not speaking. Finally, Hermione was the one to break the silence.  
"Ugh! We're going to be late to our next class if you guys keep staring at each other like this!" she said. "You three have fun in Divination. I'm off to Ancient Runes. See you later."  
Hermione took off to her next class.  
"Well, I guess we'd better get going. I wouldn't want to miss a moment of Divination. I heard it's a really amazing class." Katrina said bubbly.  
"Yeah, you'd hate to miss that. That would be a real shame." Ron joked.  
  
They just barely made it to Divination on time. When they got there, there was just one empty table left. The three of them sat there.   
Professor Trealawney made her usual entrance. She seemed to acquire more baubles and cloth scarves over the summer break.  
"Hello, my children" she said in her faraway misty voice. She smiled at Katrina. "It's such a pleasure to be back here in this classroom, discovering our fates and our fortunes."  
Harry and Ron sniggered. Professor Trealawney always predicted that Harry's "fate and fortune" was a terrible and horrific death.  
"Well, let's get started. Today we are going to begin our lesson on famous Seerers We are going to start with a most modern Seerers. It's most fortunate that I always give my fifth years this lesson, since the daughter of this talented young woman sits in this very room."  
All heads spun around the room trying to see who that daughter might be. Katrina buried her face in her hands.  
"I am of course speaking of our very own, Miss Katrina Figg, who is the daughter of the great Esmerellda Figg."   
Katrina buried her face in her hands. She slid low in her chair so that only the top of her hair would be visible. Harry understood perfectly how she felt. He hated it when Professor Treewalney drew attention to him in class.   
"Esmerellda Figg was believed to be one of the greatest seers ever to be born. History tell us that she predicted countless events before they occurred. Books will also tell us that she accurately predicted the future of many of her family members, including her own father's unfortunate death."   
Harry looked over his shoulder to where Katrina was sitting. He could see tears forming in the corners of her eyes. How painful it must be to have to listen to your mother being spoken as the daily lecture. He hoped that there wouldn't be any homework. He didn't think Katrina could handle it.   
Professor Trewaleny droned on, but Harry didn't hear a word of it. His heart was with Katrina and all the pain she must be feeling. He wished there was something he could do for her. Harry noticed that Katrina was looking at him. The expression on her face was so full of pain that he just wanted to lead her out of the classroom and hold her, whispering that it would all be alright. Without realizing that he was doing, he reached forward and took her hand in his. He softly caressed her palm, and whispered, "It's alright. I understand. Don't be sad. I'm here for you."  
Suddenly, a change in Professor Trewanley's tone of voice, occurred, jolting Harry for al his thoughts.  
"History." Professor Trewlawney said, "Will tell you that Esmerellda Figg was the greatest seer ever known. But I disagree. I personally believe that she was a phony."  
Katrina gasped, along with several other people in the class. Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing!   
"She made a few lucky guesses, I'll admit that, but Esmerellda Figg had no real gift. If she did, she would have been able to See her fate, and realize that she would be abducted and most likely murdered."   
Katrina jumped up from her seat. With a look of intense fiery anger, she glared at her teacher. "How dare you!" she spat. "How dare you talk about my mother like that?!?! My mother was the greatest seerer ever born. Much greater than you! Your just jealous that you will never become as powerful as she was!"   
Professor Trewawney raised one eyebrow. "Oh really?" she said. "Then maybe she should have seen it coming!"   
"The best seerers in the world can see many things, but most of them can not see their own future. Just everyone else's. There are many things in this world that are meant to happen. If you could see your own future, and it was an unhappy one, it would drive the person mad!" Katrina hissed.   
"And I suppose you think you can predict the future?" Professor Trelawney asked.   
"Well, I can predict one thing about my future!" Katrina yelled, her face screwed up with fury. "I see myself never coming to this god damn class again!"  
And with that, she grapped her hot pink backpack, and stormed out of the room.   
Everyone sat in silence.   
Finally, Professor Trewaney spoke. "Just what I expected. You wouldn't think a girl like that would stay in my class. Especially coming from a mother such as that! The girl probably thinks she can do whatever she wants just because she's Dumbledore's niece!"  
Harry felt his face flush with anger. "Who the hell do you think you are?" he yelled, rising from his seat. "That was her mother you were talking about! You shouldn't say things like that about a students mother! I don't care if she's a historical figure or not! Her mother's dead! How would you feel if someone spoke of your dead mother like that?"   
With these words, Harry realized where he needed to be. He ran from the classroom and into the halls crying out her name. "Katrina!" he yelled. Harry didn't care if he lost Gryfindor a thousand house points. He just wanted to find Katrina. He knew that she had to be somewhere. She was probably in a lot of emotional pain, and she didn't know the castle very well. What if she got lost?   
"Katrina!" he cried. Where could she be? he thought to himself.   
Finally, he found her sitting on the stairs. The tears he had seen in her eyes earlier were no streaming madly down her soft face. The moment she saw Harry she threw her arms around his neck.  
"Harry!" she sobbed. "Oh, Harry."  
She rested her head on his shoulders. Harry, feeling g very awkward, put one of his arms around her back, and the other on her face, trying to wipe away some of her tears. Her tears were drenching his new robes but he didn't care. He just wanted to be there for Katrina and comfort her.   
He heard footsteps, but he couldn't see the person the footsteps belonged too. He didn't care if it was Filch or Snape, or any other teacher. What could they do? Give him detention for comforting a girl who had her dead mother bad talked in front of the entire class? Considering that the crying girl was the headmaster's beloved niece, Harry felt really safe. He just hoped Percy didn't come around the corner. Although the situation was perfectly innocent, it might not seem that way in Percy's eyes. It might look as Harry was comforting Katrina like a lover, instead of just a friend and fellow orphan.   
"What am I going to do with you, Katrina?" he joked. "It's only your first day of school, and already your telling off the teacher and cutting class."  
For a moment, Harry thought he might have been successful. He heard her laugh for a second and then she started to sob again.   
"She wasn't a phony. She was real. She may not have been the greatest woman or the greatest mother, but I swear to God, she was the greatest seerer. She was real." Katrina said into Harry's robes.   
"I know." Harry replied. "Don't you listen to a word that woman said to you. She doesn't know anything. She's just a fake. I don't even know why Dumbledore keeps her here."  
"I'm not a phony either." she said, lifting her head off Harry's shoulder.   
"Can you see into the future?" Harry asked.  
"I can see some things." Katrina said in a soft voice. "I can see some things about you."  
"Can you?" asked Harry. "What do you see for me?"  
Katrina sighed. "Your so famous, Harry. Everyone knows your story, and everyone knows your name. They say great things about you. And now that I know you, I know all those things about you are true. You are a great wizard, Harry Potter."  
Harry raised one eyebrow. "I thought you said you could see my future."  
"And I can." replied Katrina. "Your going to do marvelous things. Incredible things. You're going to be a hero."  
"I don't feel like much of a hero." Harry answered shaking his head. "I'd much rather live an ordinary life, with my parents alive. I don't want to people to think I'm something special. I don't feel like I'm special. I'm just an ordinary wizard, with a funny little scar on his forehead."  
"You are not ordinary. Just think of all the things that you've done. All the things that have happened to you! There's gotta be something special about you somewhere, and I'm not talking about that scar. Your going to be one of the greatest wizards who ever lived, Harry, whether you want to be or not. It's just who you are. You were born that way. And your going to grow up to be a great man."   
Harry laughed. "That's not what Professor Trewaney said about me. She keeps predicting my death, almost every class period."  
Katrina sat up straight with a jolt, pulling her arms off of his neck. Her face turned very very white. Harry wished she hadn't pulled away from him. She smelled so sweet. "What did the teacher say about you?" she asked, in a very worried voice.   
"Ever since my third year, she's been predicting my death. She says I'm basically doomed. She says I have the Grim." Harry answered.  
Katrina looked very concerned. "You don't really have the Grim, do you?"  
"I don't think I do." he answered. Harry smiled. "Besides." he added in a soft, smooth voice that he didn't know he had, "I'm going to grow up to be a great man. I know because a gifted seerer told me so."  
Katrina's face broke out into an ear to ear grin.   
Before Harry could realize what was going on, she flung her arms around his neck, tighter than they had been before. With her fingertips running wildly through his hair, she pressed her lips against his, forming a insane and wild kiss.  
Harry felt totally dumbstruck, but not so much that he didn't know what was happening. He rested his hand on her shoulder, as she kissed him.   
Suddenly, the bell rang, and she sprung away from him. She brushed off her robes frantically, as if she was trying to brush away her guilt.   
"Harry?" she asked sounding very frightened. "What just happened here?"  
"Er....you kissed me?" he replied. He felt very stupid. He wished he could say better.  
She shook her head. "No, I couldn't have."  
"Well, you did. I was there. I should know." answered Harry, smiling.   
She shook her head again. "I couldn't have."  
"But you did. Look." he said wiping his lips with his finger. "You got a bit of your lipstick on me!"  
Katrina stared at him as if she had never seen him before.   
"I mean, it looks great on you, but I don't think it works on my skin tone..."  
"Harry." she interrupted. "Don't tell Percy. Don't tell Ron. Don't tell Hermione. Don't tell anyone. But for the love of God, I beg you, don't tell Percy!"  
"Oh!" Harry said, suddenly understanding. "Oh. Don't worry, I won't tell a soul, I swear. It'll be our little secret."  
"I'm sorry, Harry." she said. "This shouldn't have happened."  
"It's okay. I understand. It's no big deal anyway. You were upset. That's understandable. The teacher was talking bad about your mother. And it's your first day at a new school. That's enough to make anyone do something they shouldn't."  
"Thank you." she answered.  
Before he could stop himself, Harry asked "You really like Percy, don't you?"  
"We've got Defense Against the Dark Arts now, don't we?" she asked, ignoring his question.  
"Er, yes, we do." he answered.  
"Then we'd better get going." she said.  
Harry decided that he had the most rotten luck. He had just received his first kiss from the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on, and he couldn't even tell Ron! Maybe it was a good thing that Harry had promised not to tell anyone. Percy was a full grown wizard, and the best student in his year. If he found out his beloved girlfriend had kissed him, Percy might turn Harry into something real awful!  
  
Another Author's Note:  
Okay, well, what did you think about the kiss? PLEASE! Let me know! 


	13. The First Attack

Chapter 12  
The First Attack  
  
Note: I rushed when I spell checked this, so please ignore any typos! :-  
I'd love to hear what you think, I thrive on reviews! I know it's a little lame having Katrina fall in the mud so much, but I found it amusing!  
-Amanda  
  
When Harry and Katrina arrived at their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, they were already a few minutes late. Drew Fordson, the new professor, smiled at them.   
"Ah. Katrina. Harry. Nice of you to join us." he said with a grin.  
"Sorry 'bout that." Katrina said laughing. "Did we miss anything important?"  
The professor smirked. "Just a few minutes of my charm, wisdom and grace."  
"Oh, then I guess we didn't miss anything at all, then?" she joked.  
"Ha ha ha." was his reply. "You know, your supposed to be nice and respectful to me now. After all, I control your grade."  
Katrina laughed as she and Harry sat next to Hermione, Ron and Neville. "And teachers shouldn't threaten their students."  
"Or you will have your uncle fire me?" asked Drew Fordson.  
"Nope." she said, shaking her head, grinning ear to ear. "He'll just turn you into a goat or something."  
"A goat? Well, that should be something interesting. I would like to be a goat."  
The whole class looked at Katrina strangely. It seemed very strange to them to see a student joking around so freely with a teacher.  
"Well, that brings me to my next point, class. Katrina, here, is an old friend of mine. We went to school together. I'm a couple years older than her, mind you, but we are still good friends. And I want to be good friends with all my students. Therefore, I'm asking you to call me by my first name, which is Drew." he said. "It seemed silly to me to have students not that much younger than me calling me Professor Fordson. Especially when many of the Seventh-years are the same age as me."  
"Now, if we are all going to be good friends, then we'll have to know something about each other. Why don't you all tell the class something about yourselves. We'll start with you, Katrina. I know you've always got a mouthful to say." said Drew.  
Katrina stuck her tongue out at him, but she told the class a few things about her. She told them she liked to play the guitar and sing. She told them she liked to write stories, and poems, and she kept a journal. She mentioned her love of animals.  
When all the class had told things about themselves, Drew looked at the clock. He smiled.  
"Well, we've got 40 minutes left to go. I believe we have lunch after this, don't we?"   
The class nodded.  
"Well, no point of overworking ourselves the first day. Especially one the period before lunch. Class dismissed!" he announced.  
Everyone chattered happily as they gathered up there things to go.  
"We're not going to learn a thing this year!" Hermione and Ron said at the same.   
"Isn't it great!" Ron said at the same time Hermione said, "Isn't it awful!"  
************************************************************************  
When they got to the Great Hall, Katrina pointed out how the ceiling that was blue and bright that morning, now showed fierce pouring rain.  
"Do you still want to go to Hagrid's this afternoon?" Katrina asked.  
Everybody nodded. Katrina shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, I just thought you might not want to go with the weather being so nasty."  
"Why?" Hermione asked. "Don't you want to meet Hagrid?"  
"Oh, of course I do! He sounds really, well, interesting! I'm really looking forward to it. I just thought you guys might want to wait until dryer weather."  
"Nah." said Ron. "I want to visit with him today."  
"Okay." Katrina said, smiling. "That's fine with me."  
Harry stared down at his meal without eating. He felt empty but certainly not hungry. All he could think about was Katrina, and what happened at the stairwell. Why did she kiss him like that? Did she like him? She couldn't! After all, she was dating Percy, and she seemed to really care about him. Did Harry like her? He Kinda felt like he did, but he kept telling himself that it was wrong. He liked Cho Chang, and Katrina belonged to Percy. After all, Percy was his friend! And Ron's brother!  
Harry sighed inwardly as Percy sat down at the table next to Katrina and draped his arm protectively around her. Harry really didn't want to see Percy at that moment.   
Percy gave her a peck on her lips. "Hey, Kitty Kat." he said in a soft voice, using the nickname Harry had heard so many of Katrina's old friends or relatives use. If Katrina was his girl, he'd come up with something much more original. But he didn't want her to be his girl, did he?  
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Ron rolling his eyes at his older brother.  
"How come your not working, Percy?" asked Katrina.  
"I'm on my lunch break, so I thought I'd come visit you." he said. "Unless you don't want me here?"  
"Of course I want you here! Why wouldn't I?" she exclaimed, reassuring Percy with a soft kiss.   
I got a much better kiss than that! Harry thought to himself.   
"So, what are you doing this afternoon, my beautiful?" Percy asked.   
"Well, I don't have any classes, so I'm going to Hagrid with Ron, Harry and Hermione." she replied.  
"Your going to walk over to Hagrid?" Percy asked dumbfounded. "In this weather? You'll get drenched!"  
"I'll bring an umbrella." she answered.  
"Well, I just don't want you to get a cold, being in the nasty rain." Percy responded, pulling her closer to him. "Your much too pretty to get the sniffles."  
Ron sniggered. Percy shot him a dirty look.   
"Relax, Percy. She'll be perfectly fine." Ron said. "For god's sake, we're just walking over to Hatred's. What could possibly happen?"  
"I guess your right." said Percy. He ran his fingers playfully thru Katrina's hair, and tickled her side. She giggled. "I just don't like the idea of my girl getting all cold and wet, and having to walk through all that mud."  
"But it's okay for your brother to?" Ron joked.  
"You don't look as good as she does in a skirt." Percy said in a very serious voice.  
Hermione, Ron, and Harry gasped. "Percy! I can't believe you said that!" Hermione said laughing hysterically.   
Katrina laughed. "You've been spending too much time with me, Percy. I'm a bad influence on you."  
"I disagree." Percy said, kissing her cheek one last time as he stood up from the table. "We're not spending near enough time together. And now I've got to head back to work."  
"Okay, will I see tonight?" she asked.  
"I'm sure you will." Percy said.  
"When and where?" asked Katrina.  
Percy shrugged. "I'll find you."   
She grinned.  
"You take that umbrella with you, and a jacket too. It's really really cold outside!" he said as he turned and left.   
"I promise!" she called back to him. She was positively glowing.  
"You've been spending a lot of time together, haven't you?" Hermione said, in a gossipy, girl talk kind of voice.  
Katrina giggled. She leaned forward to where Hermione was sitting. She whispered in a voice loud enough that they all could hear.  
"I think I'm in love!" she said.   
Her eyes flickered towards Harry, but nobody else seemed to notice.  
************************************************************************  
True to her word, Katrina wore her jacket and brought an umbrella with her on her way to Hagrids. Harry could almost see why Percy was so insistant. The weather outside really was as bad as Percy has let on. The wind was blowing strong, and for September, was blowing unusually cold. Even though it was the afternoon, it was very dark and shadowy out.  
"I think we are going to have a really bad lighting storm later tonight. Just look at that sky!" Katrina observed, drawing her jacket tighter around her.   
The walk to Hagrids seemed to draw on forever with the rough conditions. When they drew closer to Hagrid's cabin, Katrina suddenly cried out.  
"Lu!" she screamed.  
Harry spun around. "What did you say?" he asked, very surprised.  
"I saw Lu!" she exclaimed, and took off running.   
Harry chased after her. "Who's Lu?" Ron and Hermione called after them.   
"A good friend of hers who is missing!" he called back as he sped off after Katrina.  
"She's got too damn many friends!" he heard Ron exclaim somewhere behind her.   
Katrina was running very fast. Harry felt his legs burn with pain as he ran after her. He had to catch up with her. Katrina didn't know the grounds, and with the weather bring what it was, she could get lost if she didn't know what she was doing or where she was going. The least she could do is fall and hurt herself in the slick mud. They'd never hear the end of it from Percy if she got a single bruise. He'd blame it on them somehow.   
"Lu!" he heard her yell again.  
Harry looked around. He didn't see a sign of anyone. He looked over his shoulder. He couldn't see anyone behind him. All he could see was Katrina's hot pink bag that she had flung threw the ground so she could run faster.  
"Lu! It's Katrina! Where are you!" she cried. Her voice faltered. She sounded like she was about to cry. She must really be worried about her friend. Harry kept on running, faster than he thought he could ever run. He know understood the reason why Percy was so protective of her. There was just something about Katrina that made guys want to keep her safe and shelter her.  
Harry realized he was at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and he couldn't see Katrina anywhere.   
"Oh no! Don't let her go into the Forbidden Forest." he said aloud to himself, breathing very heavily.  
"Katrina?" he called out. "Katrina, where are you? It's Harry! Please tell me where you are?"  
"Harry?" she replied. Her voice was not coming from the Forbidden Forest but from where Harry had just come from. He walked forward. Katrina was laying on the ground, her clean clothing splattered with mud, her face drenched with sweat and rainwater. She was shivering, and shaking.   
"Katrina, are you alright?" he cried terrified that she might be hurt.   
"I'm okay." she said. "I just tripped when I was running. Can you help me up?"  
Harry gave her his hand and pulled her from the ground. "You're a mess." he said noindicating her torn and dirty clothes. "But the important thing is whether or not you're hurt." She seemed to be a little weak on her feet. She limped a bit, and leaned on Harry's shoulder for support. "Are you sure you are okay?"  
"Nothings hurt but my clothes and my dignity." she said trying to smooth her hair and her jacket. "My jacket is ruined. I look disgusting."  
"No, you don't. Your'e as beautiful as ever." he said. Damn. Did he really say that? He certainly didn't mean to say that!   
Luckily, Katrina didn't say anything back. "Lu!" she yelled.  
"Enough about Lu." Harry said, placing his hand over her lips. "He's not here. You must have just imagined him."   
Katrina tore herself away from him, and without Harry's support, fell into a large mud puddle.   
"Ack!" she cried, removing a large piece of wet grass from her hair. "I didn't imagine him. I know what I saw, and I know that I saw him!"   
Again, she fell to the ground.  
"Here, let me help you." Harry said, putting his arm loosely around her shoulders. "If you don't let me help you, your just going to fall all over the place. You must have sprained something. Don't worry, I'll take you to the hospital wing, Madame Pomphey will be able to fix that in an instant."  
Katrina pushed him off her. "Don't touch me." she said in a grumpy voice.  
"Okay, fine, fall into the mud again. See if I care." Harry hissed back.  
"I'm not going to fall into the mud." she said defiantly, as she tripped over her own backpack and fell headfirst into some more mud.   
She stood up unsteadily. Her entire face was covered. "Ugh! I think I just swallowed a grasshopper."   
Harry laughed. "Serves you right for being so stubborn."   
Even through the dark rain, Harry could see her roll her eyes at him. He walked towards her.   
"You've grown." Katrina remarked.  
"Huh?" Harry replied, not having a clue what she was talking about.  
"You've grown quite a bit taller since I met you. When we first met, you were shorter than me. Now you are at eye level."  
"Okay." Harry said. He couldn't think of anything appriote to say. He felt like an idiot. Why couldn't he ever find the right words in a situation like this? Why did Katrina always do this to him?  
"They say guys have their growth spurts at a later age than girls. Your 15, right?" she asked.  
Harry nodded. Even though her face was covered in mud, he wanted her to kiss him again like she did earlier. He reached forward with the sleeve of his robes and wiped the mess off her face. "Much better." he said.  
She smirked. "You've ruined your robes."  
"It'll wash off." he replied.   
Her smirk widened and grew more mischievous. She seemed to know the conflict she was creating inside of Harry, and she seemed to enjoy it.   
"I saw him, Harry. I saw him run into the those woods over there." she pointed towards the Forbidden Forest. "Take me in there. Help me find him. I know that you know the way. I can't go without you, Harry. I need you."  
Harry shook his head. "No, Katrina. That's the Forbidden Forest."  
"So?" she asked.  
"Er..that means it's forbidden."  
"And your point is?" she replied.  
"We're not going in the Forbidden Forest." Harry said firmly.   
"Fine." Katrina said with a pout. She pulled away from Harry and stumbled off.  
Harry sighed. "You are so stubborn." he said. "I just cleaned you up and now your going to go fall in another mud puddle. I don't know what you did to yourself, but you sure managed to d something bad."  
Katrina rolled her eyes. "I'm not a child, Harry. Don't treat me like one."  
"Percy sure treats you like one." he grumbled.  
Harry didn't know whether or not Katrina heard him because she didn't say anything. They walked in silence back to Hagrid's cabin. Katrina managed to not fall into anymore mud puddles, but the two of the were very cold and very wet.  
"What happened! What happened!" Hermione cried, running out towards them.   
"She felt and hurt her ankle." Harry replied. "And then she fell in almost ever mud puddle out there."  
"Humph!" was Katrina's reply. "I know I saw him! If I hadn't tripped I would have caught him!"  
"Well, look at the two of ya! Let's getcha inside before you catcha death of cold out here!" Hagrid said, ushering them inside his house. He handed them towels to dry off with, and then offered them all hot tea.   
"How was your summer, Hagrid?" asked Hermione. Hagrid preceded to tell them all about an amazing trip to France he went on where he met up with Madame Maxime. As Hagrid talked, Katrina stared out the hut windows. Suddenly, she jumped out of her chair, and ran out the door.  
"Here we go again." Harry mumbled. "She thinks she saw him, doesn't she?"   
As if to answer his question, Harry heard her cry out, "Lu!"  
"Not ter be mean or anythn' Harry, but I think your new friend is a bit mad." Hagrid said.  
Ron snickered. "She'd have to be to be going out with my brother!"  
"Which one?" Hagrid asked.  
"Percy." he replied.  
Harry spat out his tea into his large cup. ""Percy?!" he choked. "No offense to ya Ron but I jus can't imagine Percy dating a girl like that one. Her being Dumbledore's niece and all, she's a good girl, but ya would think Percy'd go fer the plainer ones!"  
Everyone laughed, and tried to ignore Katrina's cries outside. They all wondered whther or not she really was crazy. Pherpas it ran in the family. After all, Dumbledore was a great man, but he was a bit mad himself.  
"I guess I'd better go bring her in." Harry decided.  
"Yeah, if she gets a cold, Percy'll kill us all." Ron said sniggering.  
"I'm just tired of having to take care of her. Seems like that's all I did today was watch out for her."  
Harry stood up from his chair. As he pushed it in, he heard a terrible high pitched scream. It was the voice of a young woman.  
"Katrina!" he cried as he fell to the floor, his scary burning in agony. Harry began to twitch and scream himself. He couldn't take the sound of her screams. It was too awful to bear. "Katrina!" he whispered as the screaming began louder. Harry knew that sound all too well. It was the sound of someone being tortured with the Cruciatus Curse! White hot pain scorched Harry's scar. His vision was fading and everything was blurry.   
"Katrina?" he whispered, almost begging for someone to tell him if she was alright."Help Katrina." he begged.  
But they didn't help her, they were too concerted with Harry or too frightened for their selves. Days later, Harry would suppose they didn't try to rescue Katrina because they were afraid whatever was attacking her would go after them, and then they wouldn't be able to get any help.   
The screaming seemed to lessen. "No!" cried Katrina. "I won't let you take it! You can't have it! It's mine!"   
Then the screaming became more intense. Harry could see Hermione on the floor trying to help him, Ron staring out the window trying to get a glimpse of the attacker so he could describe him to Dumbledorel later on, and Hagrid fumbling around trying to find his crossbow.   
So weak with pain, Harry crawled outside of the hut. Hermione yelled, "Stay back, Harry! You can't save her!"  
But Harry knew he had to. He pushed open the door. He saw Katrina lying in a crumbled pile in the mud, rain pounding on her, clutching her neck, screaming.   
Harry's scar burned more intensely when Harry saw it. It was a dark figure in a long black robe, it's face covered in a black hood, with black leather gloves poking out from the robes, clutching a long wand. The attacker turned towards Harry. Through the dark shadows of the pouring rain, Harry could not see it's face.   
It shouted an incantation that Harry could not hear. Katrina stopped screamed. It's had reached forward to Katrina's neck. Katrina realized what her attacked was doing and with what little strength she had left, she kicked away it's hand. The figure then turned towards Harry and gave a low chuckle. Then it turned and ran away into the Forbidden Forest. Harry had never seen anything run so fast. It was catlike, with no wasted motion.   
From the time Katrina was attacked, to the moment that Harry crawled to her and asked if she was okay was about 45 seconds, but it seemed like an eternity to those who had experienced it.  
"Katrina, what was that?" he whispered, as Ron, Hermione and Hagrid stood above them, trying to comprehend what had just happened.  
"He wanted my necklace." she whispered.  
"Your necklace?" Harry asked.  
"My necklace." she replied.  
Harry crawled up out of the mud. He was still in a large amount of pain, very dizzy and very weak, but he knew he was going to be just fine. His concern was not for himself.   
"Are you okay, Katrina? Are you hurt anywhere?" he said breathlessly.  
"Just everywhere." she said.  
Hagrid scoped her off the ground. Ron grapped Harry's arm and pulled him up.  
"You two better come to the hospital wing." Hermione said.   
"Right." Hagrid said. He was holding his crossbow and Fang was at his side. Me and Fang ar' gonna go n git whatever that was. Don't you worry. It couldn't got too far."  
"Noooo!" Katrina screamed, collapsing back onto the ground. "Hagrid, don't you leave, Harry! You've got to stay with him until he's back in the castle, don't you understand? Something really bad is out there, and you won't be able to catch it. But it won't come if your with us, Hagrid. Your a big guy. Nobody will mess you!."  
Hagrid puffed-up and beamed proudly. "Well, that may be true..." he said.  
"So don't go!!!!" she cried. "Harry is weak.."  
"I'm not weak!" Harry yelled, feeling very insulted. His scar started to burn some more, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He had the feeling he was being watched. He had a feeling whatever had been there was coming back.  
"He's weak. I'm weak." she whispered. She screamed. A blood curling scream, and Harry started to scream as well. His scar was on fire, and he felt his whole body was on fire. From fire, came ashes. Everything went black, deep dark black, and before Harry lost conciseness he felt himself fall back down...down next to where Katrina had already passed out. 


	14. The Hospital Wing

Chapter 13   
In the Hospital Wing  
  
When Harry awoke, he found several pairs of eyes looking at him, and he also discovered he was sleeping on a bed in the hospital wing.   
"Where's Katrina?" he asked as he jerked up with a start.  
Hermione pointed to Harry's right. Over his shoulder he saw Katrina lying unconscious in a twin bed next to his. Sitting at her waist, was Percy carefully caressing her hand, and Arizona Brown sitting at her feet. Harry could see Percy shooting dirty looks at Arizona, furious at the idea that another guy would be sitting with her in her hospital bed.  
"Is she alright?" Harry asked.   
"Be quiet." Percy hissed. "She's fine, but she's sleeping."  
"She's really weak, but she's gonna be okay, Harry." added Ron.  
Harry sighed. "That's good news." he said. "When I saw her like that, I thought something bad might have happened."  
The nurse approached Harry. "Oh, I see your awake. How are you feeling?"  
"Good." he said with a nod.   
"Try to stay out of trouble this year, Mr. Potter. It gets a bit bothersome having to mop you up time after time. And you have gone and got the new student hurt too with all your exploits. And the headmaster's niece, no less!"   
"It wasn't my fault she got hurt! She was attacked!" Harry cried. Madame Pomphey just turned and went into her office. As the door shut behind her, Harry could hear Percy swear.   
"Damn it!" he said. Harry jumped. It was totally out of character for Percy to say something like that, and Harry couldn't believe his ears. "Her first day here and she already got injured! I told you guys not to let her go in the rain, but what did you do? You go and drag her outside! She'll probably have a cold too!"  
Percy shook his head in disgust. "I can see it now. She'll have a runny red nose, sneezing, itchy bloodshot eyes, the works!"  
"Everyone gets colds every now and then, Percy." said Hermione.  
"Well, I didn't want her to get one!" Percy shouted.  
At this Arizona Brown jumped from where he was seated. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted, glaring at Percy. "Do you not care that she was attacked this afternoon by someone who wanted to do her terrible harm? That poor girl at the Cruscacius Curse =used against her! She was tortured with it! Do you know what that feels like?"  
"No, I don't know what that feels like, but I bet you don't know either." Percy spat back.  
"Of course I don't know. But that's not the point. The point is that Katrina was attacked today by someone who wanted to torture her, maybe even kill her! Does that not matter to you?" Arizona exclaimed.  
Percy did not reply.  
"Obviously, the only reason why you are so worried about Katrina getting a cold is that it would ruin her looks temporarily. And something like that would be horrible for a man that does not love her!" Arizona said.  
"What are you talking about?" Percy asked. "I do too love her!"  
Arizona just shook his head. He looked absolutely repulsed. "You're not in love, Percy. You just in lust. She's a beautiful young woman with great talent, a great personality, brains, and a hell of a lot of other stuff. She also has a powerful family connection. How could you resist a woman like that?"  
"I love Katrina." he said firmly. "What are you doing here, anyway?"  
"I'm Katrina's best friend. A message was sent to Katrina's family when Dumbledore found out she was attacked. Her family were not able to come, but I was. So I apprated to the country, and then flew on a broomstick to get here. Katrina's grandmother told me the way. I needed to be here for her, and Katrina needed to have a true friend her, besides Harry ofcourse."  
With all the commotion, it must have awoken Katrina. She stirred, making a soft cooing sound.  
She awoke to find Ron, Hermione, Percy, Neville, and Arizona crowding around her. Harry sat up in his bed, letting his feet touch the cold hard floor. Percy leaned in close to her face.  
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." he said.   
Arizona snorted. "Cliché!" he shouted in a fake cough. Everyone ignored him.  
"Is it morning?" Katrina asked in a weak kitten like voice.  
"Yes, it's morning. You were out for a long time and then you slept for so long." Percy half whispered. "My love." he added, glaring at Arizona. "Are you feeling alright?"  
"Mmmmm. Just sleepy." she replied.   
"I wish you hadn't gone anywhere that afternoon. You could have come to the office with me and keep me company." said Percy.   
"I'll be okay. I'm just so sleepy." she replied. Her eyes were sparkling as she looked up at Percy. Harry felt like someone just punched him in the stomach.  
She really does love him! he thought.  
"Is my necklace safe?" she asked.  
Percy sighed, as he placed his hand upon her neck and touched the delicate chain of that necklace she loved so much.  
"It's safe around your pretty neck." he said. "They heard you yelling about your necklace when you were being attacked. Why didn't you just give them the necklace?"   
"This necklace belonged to my mother, it was a gift of my father's. It's the only thing I have of their's and it's one of the few things that I know about my parents." she said, stroking the pendant on the chain. "They'd have to unclasp it from my cold dead body if they wanted to get it."  
Percy sighed once more. "That's what I'm afraid might have happened. You get have been killed, Katrina. All over a silly necklace." He kissed her daintily on her lips. "I'd buy you a thousand necklaces if it meant that you were safe, Katrina. Your life is worth a lot more than a piece of jewelry. Jewelry can be replaced. You can't."  
"This one can't." she murmured.  
"Katrina." said Arizona as he scooted closer to her, despite Percy's disgust. "If it's necklaces you want, I'll buy you all the jewelry in the world. You don't do anything stupid like that again, okay? If someone tried to take your dumb little necklace, you just throw it one direction and run as fast as you can the other way. I know it's very very valuable, but no price is worth losing you."   
"I think I'm getting sleepy again, Arizona." she said. "Thank you for coming to be here with me, it's so nice having an old friend with me now."   
She closed her eyes and slipped into sleep.  
"All this because of Lu Willow." said Arizona shaking her head.   
"I've been thinking." said Hermione. "I don't know much about this guy but I think he's trouble. I think he's the one who attacked Katrina and Harry."  
"Nonsense." said Arizona. "He 's been a good friend of mine for years. And a good friend of Katrina too! He'd never hurt her, he'd never hurt anyone!"   
"Katrina told me his parents were Death Eaters." Harry added. "That doesn't look good, but I don't think she saw him."  
"Do you think she's making that up or seeing things?" asked Ron.  
"My idea is that she's been thinking about him so much and so worried about him that she really wanted to find him, and they may have caused her to think she saw him when she didn't." explained Harry.  
"That does make sense." said Hermione. "But who attacked her?"  
"Listen, I know that you guys don't know old Lu, but I do and he's a real good guy. He helped me out that time I got locked in the bathroom stall." said Arizona.  
"Did you just say that you got locked in a bathroom stall?" asked Neville.  
"Yeah, I got locked in one of the old bathroom stalls." said Arizona.  
"How do you get locked in a bathroom stall?" asked Ron.  
"How do you not get locked in a bathroom stall?" replied Arizona with a grin. "I was going about my, uh, business and when I went to unlock the door it was stuck."  
"Why didn't you just crawl under the door?" asked Harry.  
"It was too low to the ground, and I couldn't climb over it because it was too tall." said Arizona.   
"Why didn't you do a spell?" Hermione suggested.  
"Lost my wand." Arizona answered her. "Anyway, I had to yell and yell for somebody to let me out, and nobody would. They just stood there and laughed at me, except for Lu. He heard he yell and he didn't a spell on the door, and it opened."  
Everyone laughed.   
"You know what I think about your story?" exclaimed Percy. "I think it's really stupid. And as for you, I don't think your the nice guy everybody thinks you are. I think you were the one who attacked Katrina! You better stay away from her! She's my girlfriend, you know!"   
With that Percy, stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him.  
Neville looked at Arizona and made a funny sound, and then left the room.   
"So two people think I am some kind of crazy guy that attacked Katrina and Harry? How about the rest of you?" Arizona yelled, clenching his fist.  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at each other without speaking.  
"I see how it is." was Arizona's reply as headed for the door. "I didn't do it, and you know it! Katrina saw Lu Willow, but he didn't attack her! You may not believe me, but I know that it's true, and I'll find a way to prove it, somehow!"   
As soon as the door slammed, Ron whispered, "I don't know about you, but I all of Katrina's friends are a bit mad!"   
Hermione just stared at the wall. "Who could possibly be her attacker?" she asked, knowing that nobody in that room had the answer.  
************************************************************************  
  
Author's Note:  
WHEW! That was really short, at least for me, it is! I wrote the whole chapter in one sitting! Oh my god! lol! I'd really like to know what you think about Arizona Brown. I really love that character. I imagine him as a handsome Neville Longbottom with attitude! What do you think? I'd really like to know!!!! Please share your thoughts!  
Who do you think attacked Katrina and Harry? I'm curious to hear any theories anyone has. Maybe I'll tell you if your right, but then I may not. It would ruin the story for you! :- 


	15. The Heir

Chapter Fourteen  
The Heir  
  
  
Both Katrina and Harry were well enough to leave the hospital wing two days after they had first arrived. They returned to their classes, and a sense of normalcy. Katrina seemed to be adjusting alright. She enjoyed Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid because she was a great animal lover. Hagrid was very interested in her unusual bird, Dite. Ron sniggered when Hagrid said it was the ugliest thing he's ever seen, but Katrina was very insulted and refused to hear anyone speak ill of her pet.   
Drew Fordson was a very interesting teacher. The rest of their days in class were quite different that their first. Drew was very knowledgeable about his subject, even though Snape liked to throw out hints that his colleague was under-qualified.   
Snape and Katrina still carried on their strange relationship. It was almost like a father/daughter sort of thing. Ron and Hermione noticed this too. When Ron teased Katrina asking her about "Daddy Snape", she was very upset. Ron tried to apologize to her, and explain that he was only joking, but Katrina was very distant with Ron for the rest of that day. Katrina must had mentioned it to Percy, who yelled at his younger brother.  
Katrina did not have much luck with Herbology. She had never taken a Herbology class at her old school, and therefore had to take it with first years. Neville Longbottom spent many hours tutoring Katrina, but she didn't seem to understand it. However, the tutoring was in no way unsuccessful. Poor Neville had never had the chance to help anyone with their school work, and was thrilled at the chance. His self confidence seemed to shine, and a new, more self assured Neville Longbottom arrived.  
After much talking with the Headmaster, Katrina decided to stay in Divination. She was not very happy about, but Professor Trelawney no longer made mean comments about Katrina or her family. The professor just seemed to ignore her, and pretend that she was not in the room. This seemed to suit Katrina, who never spoke to her teacher.   
As the first few weeks went by, Katrina seemed to become very homesick. Not so much for America, just for her friends and family. She spent time with Drew Fordson after school, and on the weekends, Arizona Brown was allowed to come visit. Katrina was very happy to have her friend there, but other people were not so pleased about Arizona's visits. Percy Weasley, who wanted to spend every waking moment with his girlfriend, was very jealous. Arizona and Percy could not be in the same room together without arguing, so Percy would storm off. Percy would go find Harry, Hermione, or his brothers, and complain about Arizona, throwing out dark hints about Arizona's true character. Hermione and Ron had some doubts about him, but they basically thought he was an okay guy. Harry, on the other hand, liked Arizona and thought he was a good guy, and Percy was just jealous.  
************************************************************************  
"Ooooo! You've got Owl, Hermione" squealed Katrina one morning at breakfast.   
Hermione looked up from her cereal. "I didn't even see it, my mind was someone else, Opps, I mean somewhere else."  
Katrina giggled as Hermione blushed. She leaned forward to see who the letter was from. "It's from Viktor Krum!" announced Katrina.  
"Like it's any of your business!" Hermione said, pretending to be mad. Of course she wasn't. Katrina and Hermione scooted close together to read the note together. They got rather giggly.  
Ron and Harry did their best to ignore them. as they discussed the Gryfindor Quiditch team tryout which were to take place the next afternoon. Ron had been practicing really hard, and Harry was sure he's ge a spot on the team, especially with is brothers being the Co-Captains.   
The bell soon rang and it was time for them to go to Potions.That day in class, they were going to learn a new and difficult potion. Katrina gossiped happily with Neville, as they got their ingredients together.  
"This potion will call for 14 mashed spiders." Snape announced.  
Katrina immediately stopped talking. Her face got very white. "Spiders?" she asked in a weak little voice.  
"Yeah, we use spiders all the time in here." Hermione said.   
"I can't touch a spider." Katrina said.  
"There dead." said Ron. "I'm afraid of spiders too, Katrina, but I can handle the dead ones. I'm sure you'll be able too."  
But Katrina refused to have anything to do with the potion because of the spiders. When Snape walked by their table, he noticed Katrina was acting very strangely.  
"Are you alright?" he asked her, leaning in very close.  
"Spiders." was all she said.  
"Spiders?" asked Snape. Then a look of acknowledgement came upon his face. "Oh. Spiders." he said. "Oh! Spiders! Oh, Katrina, I'm sorry! I forgot about the spiders!"  
He looked at how pale Katrina's face had gotten. He went over to the sink and poured her a cold glass of water. When he handed to her, he said, "Drink this, Katrina. It will make you feel better. You're sweating."  
Katrina drank the water in one gulp.   
"Severus." she said, in a soft voice. "I can't do this."  
"It's okay, Katrina." he said putting a hand on her shoulder. Snape did not notice that everyone in the room was now staring at them. "I forgot about you and the spiders. How irrespobible of me. I understand completely."  
He took his hand from her shoulder, and in a mock gesture of professionalism, he said, "Potter, take care of Miss Figg's spiders for her, and do a good job of it. If you need anything, Miss Figg, let me know."  
He walked across the room, and began to watch other students work on their Potions.   
When the bell rang, Katrina rushed out of the room. She was still pale and trembling. Professor Snape walked towards her, looking very concerned, but she rushed away before he could catch her. When Harry and Ron arrived in Divination, she was not there. After class, Harry walked around in the halls, as Ron and Neville went ahead to Defense Against the Dark Arts. He found her sitting by a suit of armor. She looked very sad.  
"Katrina?" asked Harry. "Are you okay?"  
She nodded. "I hate spiders."   
"I don't think it's the spiders that's bothering you." Harry said, touching her shoulder lightly.  
"You wouldn't understand." was her reply.  
"Try me." said Harry.   
"It's about the spiders."  
Harry looked at her strangely. "The spiders?"   
"You wouldn't understand, Harry, because your mother loved you. She died trying to save you."  
"Huh?" Harry asked.  
"My mother." she began. "Tried to kill me when I was a baby. She put a large poisonous spider in my crib."   
"How do you know this?" Harry asked, his voice catching in his throat.  
"When my uncle got me, he used a Pensive on me to find out a lot of stuff about my life. He never told me most of what he discovered, but this was one of the things that he did told me. He kept seeing me scream whenever I got near a spider, and he wanted to know why." she explained.  
"Katrina, I don't know what to say." said Harry. "Well, your fear of spiders makes a lot more sense now. How did you survive?"  
"My father found me before the spider got me. My father loved me very much." she said.   
"I'm so sorry, Katrina. I don't know why life has to be so hard. I don't know why bad things happen to good people but they do." He put his arm around her and held her close. She rest her head on his shoulder. She began to weep, and Harry wiped her tears away.  
"This isn't supposed to be this way." she whispered.  
"What's not supposed to be this way?" Harry asked.  
"All you've done since I got here is take care of me. I should be able to take care of myself. I'm just a big baby. I guess I'm not as strong as I thought I was. As everyone thought I was."   
Harry shook his head. "Oh no, Katrina. Your strong. You've got a lot of crazy things going on in your life, you've had a lot of bad things happen in your past, and that makes it hard. Believe me, I know that better than anyone. Your going to be okay."  
"You shouldn't be so protective of me. I should be protect...."  
"Shhh." Harry whispered. He put his finger on her lips.  
"The sorting hat wanted to put me in Slytherin." she confessed.   
"It did?" Harry asked.  
"Yes, it did." she said, shaking.  
"It's okay. The Sorting Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin too. But we're both in Gryfindor. That's what matters."  
"Why did it want to put you in there?" she asked.  
"I don't really know. I do know that when Voldermort tried to kill me and he failed, some of his power was transferred into me. Maybe the Sorting Hat could sense that."  
"You mean," she said, placing her hand on Harry's heart, "There's powers of Slytherin in you?"  
Suddenly, Percy burst around the corner carrying a large stack of papers. When he saw Katrina sitting in Harry's arms, he dropped the stack.  
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" he yelled, looking from Katrina to Harry and back again. Although they were innocent, they looked very guilty. Percy grapped Katrina's hand and pulled her away from Harry.   
"What's going on here?" he asked once again. He stared into Katrina's eyes.   
"I was upset." Katrina said. "Harry was comforting me."  
"Is that what that's called?" asked Percy. He darted his cold stare to Harry, and Harry suddenly felt sick to his stomach.   
"I think you too have a class your supposed to go to." he said.  
"Oh c'mon! Percy!" she cried. She placed her hand on his shoulder. Percy pushed her hand away.   
"Katrina, go to class, or I'll tell your uncle." he said.   
"You wouldn't threaten me with my own uncle?" she said, staring him down.  
"Get to class." he said. Percy gathered up his papers and then headed on his way. Katrina and Harry headed the other direction towards the stairs.  
"Percy seems really upset." Harry said, trying to break the silence.  
"It's okay." she said, trying to comfort Harry. "He will get over it. He's just a bit jealous, that's all."  
************************************************************************  
Another week passed by. Katrina and Percy made up. He showed up the night of their fight with a bouquet of roses, apologizing, and saying that he over reacted. Katrina just smiled, and hugged him, and let Percy kiss her.  
The Quiditch tryouts were very successful. Ron got the spot he wanted on the team. Surprisingly to everyone, Colin Creevy got the other empty spot. Nobody ever guessed it, but Colin was an amazing player, and had real talent.  
For the middle of October, their Divination class room was very hot. Harry snuck over to the window and cracked it so he could let some cool air come in. Professor Trelawney was talking about famous Seerers (making sure not to mention Esmerellda Figg) when she became quiet. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she collapsed on the floor. All of the students rushed towards her. Everyone rushed away from her, when she began to speak.  
"The Dark Lord has arose, but greater and more terrible is the Heir. The Heir of Dark Lord awakens, with all his powers, greater and more deadly that the father. If the heir is victorious, the wizards of Britain will fall. With the awakening of the heir comes death and destruction."  
"Professor? What are you saying? asked Lavender Brown. She moved away from her beloved teacher, looking very frightened.  
Professor Trelawney stood up and brushed herself off.   
"Oh my gosh!" she cried. "What has happened to me?"  
"You fainted, and then you began to say all sorts of crazy stuff." said Pavarotti Patil.  
"What did I say?" she asked.  
"Something about the Dark Lord and a heir." said Neville. His face was colorless.  
"I never said anything like that." said the teacher, shaking her head. "I don't know what's going on." 


	16. Harry's Date

Harry's First Date  
  
Author's Note:  
Just to remind you, I'm not JK. How can you tell? Because JK knows how to spell and I don't! Please ignore my mistakes and typos. I am a good writer, but a sucky speller.   
  
The Hogwarts staff had their work cut out for them in the next two weeks. Dumbledore had called a school meeting during dinner one night, and he told the students that although, it was quite possible that their was a heir of Voldermort, they should not worry about it because they were safe at Hogwarts.  
"Why does everyone always say Hogwarts is so safe?" Harry mumbled to himself at that dinner. "Everyone always says that, but think of all the disastrous things that have happened to me since I came here!"  
The environment at Hogwarts reminded Harry of when he was a second year, and something was petrifying the students. Students were exchanging "good luck" charms, and charms and talismans that would protect them from evil, willing to shell out lots of gold for anything that someone claimed could protect them.  
Still, Harry and his friends tried to keep a normal life. Harry kept telling himself not to worry about Voldermort's heir. After all, he had no idea who this guy could be, and there was nothing he could do about it. But the idea that their was a wizard out there who was more powerful and terrible than Voldemort really shook Harry up.  
But there was homework for Harry to work on, and it was that homework that drove Harry to go to the library one afternoon by himself.  
Ron and Hermione were no where to be found. Harry had no clue where they possibly could be. They'd been diapering a lot lately like that. When he mentioned it to Katrina a few days before, she just giggled, and she thought Ron and Hermione liked each other. Harry had pointed out that Hermione was dating Viktor Krum, but Katrina just blushed, and got very giggly.   
Katrina was having tea with Dumbledore, and Arizona Brown. Actually, they were drinking tea, Katrina was having cola, the others were having the tea.   
So, Harry was sitting in the library by himself, when Cho Chang unexpectedly sat down at him table.   
"Hello Harry." she said. Her eyes were bright, her hair was neat, and her smile was warm and friendly. She looked completely different than the Cho that Harry had seen in the past couple months. She seemed like her old self, before Cedric had died.  
"Hey Cho. What are you up to?" he said smiling.  
"Not much. Are you working on History of Magic homework?"  
"Yeah," Harry said with a nod.   
"The professor can be brutal." replied Cho.  
"But he's not half as bad as Snape." answered Harry.  
Cho laughed. Harry liked seeing her laugh. She'd been so sad lately. Harry didn't want her to be sad, he wanted to make her happy. Old crushes die hard.   
"You know this Saturday is a Hogsmeade weekend?"  
Harry nodded.   
Cho took a deep breathe. "What are you planning to do?"  
Harry shrugged. "Not much. Hanging out with my friends, I suppose."  
"Would you like to hang out with me?" she asked. "Just me, not anybody else."  
Harry felt his face turn red.   
"Like a date." she added.  
Harry smiled, and felt like the king of the castle. "Sure." he answered.  
Cho breathed a sigh of relief. "I can't wait. I'll meet you by the Great Hall on Saturday."   
She stood up from where they had been sitting. Before she turned to walk away, she said, "Don't be late."  
*************************************************************************  
  
Harry would have thought the week would crawl by, but before he knew it, it was Saturday, and he was standing by the door to the Great Hall, waiting for Cho. Coming down the hallway, he saw Katrina and Percy walking together hand in hand. Percy was very excited about getting to show Katrina around Hogsmeade. He was excitedly and very quickly, telling her all the marvels of Hogsmeade in a ecstatic voice Harry was certain Katrina couldn't understand. Katrina looked really nice. She was wearing bright red denim jeans that were covered in shiny silver glitter, strappy sexy black scandals, and and a black long sleeve top. The sleeves of the top were a sheer nylon fabric. On her shirt, there was a very large red croquet rose that perfectly matched her pants. She wore big gold hoop earrings, and on her wrists, she wore a bracelet featuring very wild looking stone shaped turquoise beads. Naturally, she was wearing her usual gold necklace. Her hair was worn up in half up, half down, in many funky waves. Her nails, and lips were painted crimson.   
Harry then saw Cho Chang approaching him. She looked very different than Katrina. She was wearing a pale baby blue cotton jumper over a while turtle neck. The jumper came just below her knees, and she wore white panty hose. Her shoes were flat black shoes that reminded Harry of ballet slippers. Her hair was pulled back into a neat pony tail, and the only jewelry she wore was a silver chain necklace and bracelet, and matching earring. Katrina looked like she was going to a rock concert. Cho looked like she was going to church.  
"Hi Harry!" she said, grinning madly. "Ready to go?"  
"You bet!" he said, offering Cho his arm. Katrina and Percy were almost out of sight, but not quite all the way, out of the corner of his eye, he could see Percy kiss Katrina's hand.  
  
The date went really smooth. Cho and Harry went to the Sweet Shop, had a couple of butterbeers, and were now sitting at the ice cream parlor, chowing down on hot fudge sundaes. It had started to rain, so they took shelter under the little wooden gazebo by the parlor. They'd had a reasonably good time together. Cho was a wonderful person, and she knew a lot about Quiditch. They spent a lot of time discussing their favorites moves and flying tactics. They had many other things to talk about, like their friends, and their studies. As good of a time as they were having, Harry couldn't help feel like something was missing. Cho was beautiful. Her smiling face brought great joy to Harry's heart, but he knew that he didn't love her.   
"I'm having a really nice time with you, Harry." she told him.  
"I'm glad." Harry said, feeling really a bit awkward.  
"I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. And I've decided that I'm too young to mourn over Cedric all the time. My life is far from over, and I've got a lot of living to do. I want to be a normal person and experience things, and have a good time in life."  
Harry nodded. "Cedric really cared about you. He wouldn't want you to be so miserable over him."  
"And that's what I've been doing since he's died. Cedric may be dead, but I am not. And it's time for me to start living. You're right, Cedric cared about me a whole lot, and he would want me to be happy. So, I'm going to make myself happy, and celebrate my life."  
"Uh, that's a good thing." Harry said, feeling really really really stupid.  
"Harry, what I'm trying to say is, will you be my boyfriend?" she asked.   
His heart stopped beating. He could hardly comphend or believe what he was hearing.   
"I know you liked me last year. And I think you are a really nice guy, and I'm willing to give it a try, if you are willing to give me a try." she added.  
"Uh..." Harry began as his eyes wandered to a couple kissing passionately on a bench across the road. Obviously, they didn't care about the rain. A million things raced thru Harry's mind, and they all seemed to revolve around Katrina Figg. What about her? He thought he could have been in love with her! But she was dating Percy!  
Harry's eyes lingered on the couple. He noticed that the girl was wearing red pants! It was Katrina and Percy! It was Katrina kissing Percy so insanely, so madly, like he was about to disappear!   
"Yes." he said to Cho.  
"So, you want to be my boyfriend?" she asked eagerly.  
"My answer is yes." he repeated, starring at Katrina.  
**************************************************************************  
The rain soon let up, and Harry and Cho spent the rest of their day walking around hand in hand window shopping. Harry's heart was heavy. A year ago, he would have killed to be where he was today. But now that he had Cho, he knew he didn't want her. Cho was a great young woman, but she wasn't for him. Harry quickly realized that although Cho was beautiful, smart, kind, popular, talented, an amazing and well informed Seeker, he found her to be a bit bland. Harry wanted a girl who was more exciting, a girl that stood out from the crowd. Cho couldn't help but blend in.   
When he walked Cho to the Ravenclaw common room that evening, she smiled. She put her hand gently on his shoulder and leaned in as if to kiss him, but Harry pulled away.  
"What's wrong?" she asked looking very concerned.  
"Cho, you are wonderful, your perfect. But I can't do this."   
"Do what?" she asked.  
"Be your girlfriend. I'm sorry, I know I liked you last year, but this year things are different." he said.  
"What's different?" she asked looking very surprised and very hurt.  
"I met someone. And she's changed my life, and I can't undo the things she has down to me. I'm sorry, I like you very much as a friend, but nothing more. Your a great girl, but I don't love you."  
"I don't love you either, Harry. But I like you, and maybe we can grow from that." Cho suggested.  
"No." he said firmly. "I'm in love with this girl, and I can't be with anyone else until I can get her by my side. It would be wrong for me to be with you when I was in love with another. It would be unfair to you, myself, and especially her."  
"Okay, Harry. I guess your breaking up with me, then." Cho said very sadly.   
He nodded.  
"This is the shortest relationship I've ever been in." she said gloomily.  
Harry couldn't help but laugh. "This is the only relationship I've been in. Isn't that sad!"  
Cho laughed. "I'm sorry, but that is pretty sad."  
"See," Harry replied. "You don't want to be with me after all, I'm a loser!"  
She grinned. "I hope you will still be my friend, I did have a great time with you."  
Harry nodded. "Sure."  
Cho said goodnight, and Harry walked to his Common Room.  
  
Harry knew he had done the right thing. No matter what he was in love with Katrina Figg, even though she belonged to Percy, he knew he'd always be right there waiting for her. Maybe someday she'd give him a chance.  
Author's Note:  
Well, what do you think about this chapter? Please let me know! I really enjoy your comments! You can drop me a line at ilikeneville@yahoo.com  
What would you like to see happen with the Katrina, Percy, and Harry triangle?  
Would you like to see Hermione and Ron get together?  
  
Oh, Neville is going to hook up with somebody in one of the next two chapters. Who would you like it to be with? I will listen to your advice, even though I've got an idea who I want it to be. 


	17. Tragedy on the Quiditch Feild

Tragedy on the Quiditch Field  
Harry was desperate to talk alone with Ron and Hermione about what happened with Cho, but he never got the chance until Monday's Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Ron didn't come back to the dormitory until late on Saturday night, and although Sunday, they hung out with Katrina, Neville, and Ginny. Harry liked having them with him, but he didn't want them around when he talked to Hermione and Ron about this. That day during class, Drew Fordson divided the class into groups of two or three to work on an assignment. Katrina and Neville moved to another part of the room to be partners, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione were a group of three. With everybody concentrating on their projects, Harry decided that now was the time to tell Ron and Hermione about his date with Cho Chang.  
When he finished telling them everything he could, without mentioning the name of the girl that he liked now, he noticed his tow best friends were staring at him in awe.  
"But Harry!" yelled Ron, looking very stupefied, "You were crazy about Cho Chang last year! Everybody knew you were, you should have told her yes."   
"No," said Hermione. "Harry, you did the right thing. You knew that you didn't love Cho, and it would be wrong for you to date someone when you knew your heart was somewhere else. That should a lot of maturity."  
"That showed a lot of stupidity. Cho is a really pretty girl! You should have said yes." exclaimed Ron.   
"I just couldn't bring myself to do it." Harry told him.   
They noticed Drew Fordson walking toward their table. They knew they would never get in trouble for talking about personal matters in his class, but they lowered their tones of voice because they didn't want their teacher, no matter how cool he was, to hear about what they were talking. It would have been much too embarrassing for Harry.  
"I just don't get it!" Ron said, shaking his head. "Cho likes you, apparently she likes you a bloody lot, and you told me last year that you liked her!"  
"Do you guys need any help?" asked Drew.  
"Nope, we're doing okay." Hermione assured him.  
"Well, of course you would." said the teacher grinning. "With a genus like you, Miss Granger, in the group, of course you wouldn't have any problems."  
Hermione beamed.   
"Too bad I didn't have any smart friends like you to work with when I was in school." he teased, turning away.  
"You know, I don't think Drew Fordson is such a bad teacher, after all." said Hermione as they were leaving class that day.  
************************************************************************  
  
The Quiditch season began late that year. Dumbledore had the start of the season pushed back because all the teams had to add so many new players, and all the staff decided it would be best to make sure the teams had plenty of times to practice before their first games.  
The very first game of the season was Gryfindor vs. Ravenclaw.  
Harry was dreading the game because he would have to see Cho. Even though he promised Cho that they would still remain friends, he was very nervous about the idea of seeing her again, and there would be no way to avoid her on the Quiditch field.   
Ron, one the other hand, was very excited about his first game. Fred and George were thrilled about their debut as co-captains.   
But before the game could come, there was breakfast ,and classes.  
Ron was very excitable that morning at breakfast. He was telling Harry and Hermione in a very brisk voice about all the things he was planning on doing when he was on the field. Hermione seemed to be a bit annoyed by the constant Quiditch chatter and asked, "Where's Katrina?"  
"I dunno." said Ron, who was very displeased with being interrupted. "You share a dormitory with her, not us. Shouldn't you know?"  
"I've got no idea. She wasn't there when I came downstairs this morning. None of the girls knew where she was."  
"Maybe Neville knows." Harry suggested. "He's her best friend."  
"Yeah, you're probably right." said Hermione.   
"Hey, Neville! Ron called down the table to Neville, who was busy buttering his toast. "You seen Katrina this morning?"   
"Nope." said Neville. "Ask Percy. I bet she's with him."  
Harry's stomach turned. He was worried about Katrina. It was not like her to be missing, because she always told Harry where she was going, and always, for some reason, wanted to know where Harry was going. The idea of Katrina being missing unsettled him because she had a knack of getting into trouble. But even worse, was the idea that she would sneak off so early in the morning for a rendvue with Percy.   
But just then, Katrina made her appearance in the Great Hall, and all eyes were on her. Harry had no doubt why.  
She had cut her hair to her shoulders, but that's not the reason why it was catch attention. Her hair, which was naturally aurborne, was now decorated with alternating gold and bright Crayola red stripes. Her face, which most of the time has very little and very natural looking makeup, had bright red lipstick, glittery gold eye shadow, and a big red lion painted on each of her cheeks. Her clothing, which was always very bold, was a red and cold ty-dyed baby tee, with a matching lion and the words GRYFINDOR KICKS BUTT painted on. On the back of her shirt, it said GO POTTER! GO WEASLEY! She wore super short mini skirt that Harry could tell she made herself. The skirt had diagonal alternating scraps of red and gold fabric sewed together, with lots of slits in between. The fabric had cartoon broomsticks, and said GRYFINDOR. She obviously had bought it from some Hogwarts supply store that Harry never knew exists. The skirt looked like something a Muggle cheerleader might wear. The cheerleader theme was built upon with one red and one gold pom pom, and her one red, one gold flip flops.   
When she sat down in an empty seat next to Harry, everyone stared at her for a while without speaking.  
Finally, Ron interrupted the silence.  
"What the bloody hell are you supposed to be?" he asked.  
"I was up all night making this costume to support you guys! Do you like it?" she said beaming. "I think it turned out really good. I'm so proud of myself!"  
"It's looks wonderful." Harry lied.   
She beamed.   
  
  
Where ever she went, Katrina got attention for elaborate costume. Lots of people liked it. Some people chuckled at her, but all in all, Katrina was very happy with the response.  
When they arrived at Potions, the Slytherins had plenty to say.   
Draco Malfoy seemed to be very interested in her look.   
"How about you support a real winner and wear green and silver instead?" he suggested, in a silky voice, trying desperately to flirt with her.  
"Uh, Slytherin isn't playing today! Dur!" she said. "Besides, I am a Gryfindor! An I'm proud to be one!"   
When Snape entered the class room, he was interested in Katrina's hair.   
"What happened to your hair, Miss Figg?" he asked. "Since this is only the beginning of class, I assume a foul potion did not blow up on you."  
"Um, it's called hair dye." Katrina said, meekly.  
"Hair dye?" he asked.  
"Uh, yeah, it's this thing Muggles use to dye their hair."  
"Hmm." said bewildered Snape. "Never heard of it. I assume it's a relatively modern invention?"  
"It was invented last year!" Hermione called out, trying not to giggle.  
  
**************************************************************************  
The day progressed quickly, and before Harry knew it, he was on his broom looking for the Snitch. Not much had happened in the game so far, and there was no sign of the Snitch, so Harry decided to stay the heck out of the way as much as possible. Cho Chang seemed to be observing the same tactic, and she didn't pay much attention to Harry.   
All of a sudden, there it was! High, high above them was the Golden Snitch!  
Cho must have seen it too, because they were both racing for it as fast as they could. Up, up, up, the flew until the crowds below them were tiny little pin pricks.  
Suddenly, Harry noticed that Cho's broom was buckling. It was doing the exact same thing that had happened to Harry his year!   
One good jolt, and Cho was hanging from her broom by one hand.  
"Cho!" he yelled, desperately trying to grap hold of her. They were very high up in the air, from trying to catch the Snitch. Harry knew that if she slipped, she would be hurt terribly. "Cho, please! Grap hold of my hand. I'll put you on my broom, and take you to the ground where it's safe. Please Cho." he said desperately.   
Cho reached forward with her free hand, trying to hold Harry's hand, but the broom began to vibrate so hard, that couldn't do it. All she could do was try to hold on to her broom.  
Harry threw his arm, trying to hold her waist and pull her onto his Firebolt, but it was no use. Her broom jolted her up again, even higher than they were before. Much higher than Harry. Harry tried to fly up to her, but her broom kept on flying up an dup. Harry glanced down for a split second, and he could no longer see the stadium.   
"We must be hundreds of feet above the stadium!" he cried, as he sped higher and higher trying to get to Cho. Her broom had stopped rising, and Harry had been able to catch up to her. It was standing completely still, and Cho was riding on it, holding very tightly.   
"I think I'll be okay now, Harry." she said to him. "Let's fly down now."   
"Climb on to my broom." Harry commanded her.   
"No," she said, sounding very shaken. "I'll be okay, I can handle my broom."  
As soon as the words left her mouth, her broom did an upside down spiral, and threw her completely off.   
Harry sped off towards the ground as she fell, fell, fell, fell, but it was no use. They were too high, and she was flying too fast.  
Harry tried his best, but he was always just behind her, forced to watch the young woman he used to like so much, fall hopelessly down down down. 


	18. A Theif in the Night

" Thief In The Night"  
  
Harry would never be able to forget the events that followed Cho Chang's death. The week after she died was like a nightmare, a dreadfully slow nightmare in which you can never escape. Miserable memories kept replaying in his mind like he was watching one of those clip shows that TV shows have when the writers can't come up with any new ideas.   
The most painful thing was when Harry landed to the grown, Cho's torn lifeless body had already beat him to the ground long before he could get there. Dumbledore was standing to her, examining the remains of a beautiful young woman. Dumbledore had no answers for Harry, but he told Harry it was not his fault, and there was nothing anyone could have done. Dumbledore and many of the teachers had tried to slow her down as she was falling or put some sort of soft thing on the ground for her to fall on, but she was falling so fast from so high up that their spells won't work. "It's almost like there was something pulling her down, besides gravity." Harry had heard Snape remark.   
Despite Snape's remark, everyone seemed to believe that Chos' death was an accident. But Harry did not. All of the students were sent back to their common rooms, except for Harry. He was sent to the Hospital Wing as a precaution to make sure he was physically okay. Nobody blamed Harry for Cho's death. The Ravenclaw's were grateful to Harry because everyone had seen how he tried to save her. Even the Slytherins didn't say a word to Harry including Draco Malfoy.   
When Harry was allowed to return back to Gryfindor Tower, it was very late at night. The Common Room was pitch black, and Harry could tell that everyone had gone off to their beds. But Harry felt like something was watching him.  
He could hardly see his own hands, so he pulled out his wand. "Lumnous." he said. The Commons were so dark that even his wand didn't help. Someone must have put out the fires. The skin prickled on the back of his neck. Someone was most defiently watching him. He heard a rustle of movement from behind him. The sound of somebody's cloak brushing against a chair.   
He spun around. But didn't see anyone. Then he heard another sound behind him again, and when he spun around he felt hands around his shoulders. He tried to push the hands off, but they were holding on tightly to his robes.  
"Harry." a whisper called out to him. If Harry hadn't been so emotionally exhausted, he might have recognized that voice, but he didn't. Then he inhaled a sweet familiar perfume and was brought back.  
"Katrina?" he whispered.  
She flung her arms tighter around Harry, pushing him onto an arm chair. She sat very close to him in the chair, practically on his lap. She whispered some spell Harry didn't recognize, and the fireplaces were lit. A warm glow of light comforted them, but it was still very dim. The shadows played across their faces. Katrina seemed very jumpy, and every time a the fire crackled a bit, she'd jump closer into Harry's arms..   
"I am so glad that you are alright" she whispered, resting her head on his chest.   
Harry could feel his heart speed up, he felt like it was going to jump right out of his chest.  
"Of course, I'm okay." he whispered back. She looked like she was about to cry.  
"Katrina, are you alright? Why are you so worried about me?"  
She shook her head. "That was no accident, Harry."  
"But Dumbledore said it was." Harry reminded her.  
"I don't care what my Uncle says, it was no accident. There was a reason why Cho died today, and I don't know what it was, but somebody wanted to hurt you."  
"If they wanted to hurt me," Harry said angrily, "why wouldn't they mess up my broom instead of Cho's?"  
"They knew you loved Cho and wanted you to watch her die." she whispered. Her voice was barely audible an her body was trembling.   
"I never loved Cho." he whispered. "I had a crush on her last year, but I was not in love with her. She asked me on a date, and I said yes, but when she asked me out, I ended it because I was in love with someone I couldn't have."  
"Me." she whispered back.  
"How do you know that?" he asked.  
"Ginny." she replied and then laughed. "She knows everything about you, I think she spies on you. She used to like you, but she doesn't anymore. She likes Neville Longbottom. But she spies on you out of an old habit."  
Harry smiled sheepishly. "You know how I feel about you?"   
She lifted her head and rested it against Harry's neck. Her lips brushed his flesh but it was not in a kissing manner. "Harry, I don't want you to die."  
"That makes two of us." Harry tried to joke.  
"You're in a lot of danger here, I can feel it. I don't want anything bad to happen to you."  
"Don't worry about it, Katrina I'll be fine." he said. "They say Voldemort has a heir, but I don't know if I believe it."  
"You've got to be careful, Harry. For one thing, you must stop playing Quiditch."  
"What!" Harry exclaimed, pushing her away. "I'm not going to stop playing Quiditch. I know Cho died, but she would not want me to stop playing. I love Quiditch, it's the only thing I really feel like I'm good at."  
"Harry, I want to keep you safe." she whispered, scooting in closer. She leaned her face in close to his lips and Harry thought she might kiss him. He held his breathe.   
"Promise me, you'll think about this." she said to him.  
Harry agreed, at that moment he would have promised to buy Snape a "Number 1 Teacher" mug if she had asked him to.  
She leaned ever, ever closer. "I love you too, Harry." she whispered.  
"You do?" Harry asked, breathlessly.   
"Yes." she smiled.   
"What about Percy?" he asked. "I thought you loved him too?"  
She sighed. "I love Percy, but I'm in love with you too."  
"Forget Percy." he whispered. "Be with me. I may never be Head Boy, but I do anything you wanted."  
"No," she whispered back. "I care very deeply about Percy, and I could never break his heart."  
"So, you'll just break mine." he whispered.  
"You are stronger than Percy is." she whispered.   
And then she kissed him. When their lips broke apart, she silently got up from their chair, and walked to the girl's dormitory. Spellbound, Harry followed her.  
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked, amused.  
"With you." he said, a dreamy look in his eyes.  
"Um, I don't think so." she told him, pointing him in the direction of his dormitories.  
When Harry climbed into bed, his head was so full of thoughts that he could not keep them all in his head. "She loves me." he announced out loud.  
"Who does?" asked a half asleep Neville.  
"Katrina Figg." replied Harry.  
"Oh, that's nice." Neville said yawning. "I was afraid you would say Ginny. I was going to ask her out today at the Quiditch match, but with what happened an all, it didn't work too well."  
*************************************************************************  
The funeral service for Cho Chang was beautiful and emotional. All of the school went. All of the prefects and Head Boy and Head Girl had to speak. Hermione read John Dunne's Mediation 17, and it gave everyone chills down their spines.  
A feast was given to celebrate Cho's life. It was very quiet in the Great Hall, and it reminded him so much of when Cedric Diggory died.   
Ginny was very upset about Cho's death. Like Katrina, she was worried that it could have been Harry, and something was just not right about the whole situation. Neville found this the perfect opportunity to comfort Ginny, and a few days after this, they were seen passing notes under the tables at breakfast and holding hands.  
  
**************************************************************************  
A week after the funeral things started to get back to normal. But during the middle of the night, something was very wrong. Harry couldn't get back to sleep. He was afraid to sleep, because if he slept, he might she visions of Cho Chang.   
Suddenly, the scream of a girl shattered the calm of the night. It was one single scream and Harry knew that it had to be Katrina.   
"How does one girl manage to get into so much trouble," Ron complained as they were running to the girl's dormitories. Harry woke Ron up so that he would not have to go alone.  
A few of the other girls in the dorminatries were awake. Hermione was wide awake, sitting at Katrina's bed wearing a fuzzy bathrobe, trying to get an idea of what had happened. The lights were on, and Harry could see red marks, and small bleeding cut on her neck. She was hysterical.   
"What's going on?" Ron said.  
"My necklace. Somebody stole my necklace right off my neck!" she managed to say.  
"You woke us all up over a stupid necklace!" Ron yelled.  
"No!" cried Hermione, throwing one of Katrina's pillows at Ron. "Look at her neck, you idiot! Somebody ripped the bloody thing right off of her when she was sleeping, it looks like they almost choked her from those red marks on her neck. And she's cut too."  
"I wasn't just robbed, I was also attacked. I felt their hands around me, they tried to strangle me!" Katrina said, shaking.  
Harry was not concerned about her attacker, or her stolen necklace, she was concerned about the bleeding cut on her neck. It might have been small, but Harry couldn't stand to see her hurt.  
He pulled a tissue off of a sleeping Lavender Brown's nightstand ("What are all these pretty giraffes doing at Hogwarts?" she muttered in her sleep.) and used it to wipe the blood from her pretty neck.   
"Are you alright?" he whispered, looking up into her eyes wearing a tender expression.  
She nodded.  
Ron raised one eyebrow at him, and they immediately scooted away from each other.   
"Someone tried to steal your necklace before, when you were attacked. Why would they do that? Is it really valuable or something, Katrina? Maybe you should have put it in a vault at Gringotts or something." Hermione said.   
"Yeah, it's valuable." she told them.  
Pavariti Patil walked up to them. "We didn't see anyone here." she said. "I heard her scream and I flicked on my lamp, but nobody was there. I think she might have left the necklace someplace else, and nobody stole it."  
"What about the marks on her neck!" Harry exclaimed angrily.  
Pavariti shrugged. 'Maybe it was from a pillow."  
"Oh, that was no pillow." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.  
"Somebody needs to go get help." Ron said.  
"Good idea. We'll go see Dumbledore." said Harry.  
He jumped up from where he was sitting, and grapped Katrina's hand, pulling her along. Ron and Hermione followed. 


	19. Late Night at the Astronomy Tower

Chapter 18  
Late Night at the Astronomy Tower  
  
Dumbledore was not startled when they got to his office. Strangely enough, he almost seemed to expect the group to turn up in the middle of the night.  
When they told him what happened, he examined the marking on his neice'e neck. When he was satisfied that Katrina was perfectly unharmed, he sent Harry and Ron out into the hall so that he could talk to Hermione and Katrina alone. They were only in their for a few minutes, when Hermione was sent out. Katrina talked to her uncle for what seemed like hours. They were in there for so long, that Ron took a nap on the floor.  
When Katrina was finally excused, Dumbledore stepped out of the office and said to them, "I've discussed the night's events with Miss Figg throughly. I do not think any of you are in immeditate danger, although this news is very disturbinng"  
Harry noticed that he lookever very grave and serious.  
"However," he contunued. "It's best that you stick together from now on and be extra careful of what's going on around you. Also, it's now Saturday morning, so why don't you walk back to your dorminatries, get changed out of your pajamas and go join your fellow class mates for breakfast."  
  
Luckily for them, either everyone was already at breakfast or was sleeping in. Harry knew it would make a strange sight to see the four of them walking around school in their night clothes. Katrina was wearing pink bunny slippers after all. The only people they passed was a group of first year Hufflepuff girls, in which they ignored. The girls were not very happy about being ignored. They were quite curious why the famous Harry Potter would be walking around in his PJ's for.  
When he got back to his dorminatry, he changed into the first clean thing he good find, which happened to be the black Monsters of Merlin t-shirt that Katrina bought him for his birthday. Harry thought for a moment about the great time he and Katrina had at the concert. He sighed. He knew that somehow, someway, something really bad was going to happen to her, and there was nothing he could do but try to protect her from whatever it could possibly be.  
Harry and Ron met the girls in the Common Room. Hermione noticed tha Katrina was wearing a hot pink baby tee that said MONSTERS OF MERLIN in bright silver glittery letters, along with black jeans covered in glitter.  
"You two look like a couple of rock stars." Hermione teased them, noticing that they were both wearing the same band.   
Ginny, Neville, and Percy were already eating breakfast in the Great Hall.  
"Good morning, beautiful." Percy said, kissing Katrina on the cheek.   
Ron groaned. "What a cheese ball." he muttered. Harry and Hermione sniggered.  
"Are you ready for our big day?" Percy asked.  
"What big day?" she replied, shaking her head. "Oh wait! I remember!" She laughed. "I'm a total space today."  
Katrina and Percy were going on a double date with Neville and Ginny. Since it was not a Hogsmeade weekend, it wasn't much of a date. They were going for a long walk on the grounds together, and then having a picnic by the lake. Harry thought this was really stupid since it was late November and very very cold outside.   
Just then, Katrina's obnixoux looking bird, Dite, dropped a letter on her lap.  
"Oh, it's from Arizona!" she said, tearing open the enevolpe. Percy scowled.  
"What does it say?" asked Ginny.  
Katrina read it aloud:  
  
Hey Katrina,  
How's it going? Not much going on here except tests, tests, and more tests. Sorry, I can't come visit you this weekend. Too bad, huh? Well, since I know your just gonna miss me so much, I'm sending you a gift. Rember how you told me that you were homesick? And you missed all your cats? Well, when you get a chance today, go to your Uncle's office around lunch time. There you'll see this little guy...  
  
"What little guy?" asked Hermione.   
"There's a picture attached to the letter." Katrian explained.  
"A picture of what?" Ginny wanted to know.  
"Him!" Katrina squealed, as she showed them the letter. In the middle of the page was a picture of a very handsome looking, slender gray cat.   
  
....His name is Ptolemy. I hope you like him. He's quite a cat, not as unusual as that funny looking bird of yours...  
  
Katrina grunted as she read that.  
  
..But I'm sure you will give him a good home anyway. Take care of him.....I'll be there to see him, and you, next weekend.  
later,  
Arizona Brown  
  
  
"He bought you a cat?" asked Percy? "Ah, that's no big deal, cats are cheap. If I knew you wanted a cat, I would have bought you all the cats a week's salary can buy!"  
Katrina didn't listen. She was too busy chattering with Ginny, who loved felines just as much as she did.  
Katrina and Ginny finally drug Percy and Neville away. They wanted to see if Arizona's present had arrived early, and then start their date.  
  
"What could possibly be the big deal with that necklace?" Harry exclaimed. "It's just a stupid necklace."  
"There's got to be something more than what mets the eye." Hermione said. "There just has to be. My guess would be that this has something to do with You-Know-Who's heir."   
"I agree." said Ron. "But we need more information. And I don't think there's a single book in the libary that will help us find out what we need to know."  
He gave Hermione a "ha ha ha" kind of look.  
"No, there's not a look in the libary that will help us, but I know one somewhere else that has everything we need to know." replied Hermione, her brown eyes twinkling.  
"Where's the book at?" asked Harry.  
"Drew Fordson. I saw it one day on his desk, and asked him about it. So, I'll just see if we can borrow it."  
Hermione left the Great Hall, and Harry and Ron waited there for her. When she got back, she shook her head. "He doesn't have it. He loaned it to Profesor Sinastra."  
"So, just ask the Astronomy teacher if you can borrow it." suggested Ron.  
"Profesor Sinastra has the stomache flu and is in the hospital wing." she told them.  
"We'll just borrow it later." Ron said.  
"No, I want information about this now." Harry said. "Hermione, do you think the book would be in the class room?"  
She nodded.  
"I guess I'll get my Invisblity Cloak out and make a little trip up there tonight." said Harry, gloomily.   
************************************************************************  
  
The Astronomy Tower was very dark. Harry expected it to be, but he hadn't been there at night since his first year at Hogwarts when he had to send off that illegal dragon. It was pitch black in the tower, and silence surrounded him. "Lumnos," he said, as he wand gave him some light.   
He entered the teacher's classroom. It was very different being in the room at night. Everything seemed so foreign to him. He almost wished he had invited Hermione or Ron to come with him. After a lot of searching, he finally found the book he was looking for under a stack of graded papers.  
"Profesor sure doesn't keep a very organized desk," Harry mumbled as he looked at the cover. "If he was more organized, it would have made this much easier."  
He stared at the cover of the book. The Inner Circle of the Dark Lord by Ms. Moran Greene. Hopefully, this book would give him some answers. He had to know what was lurking around, and what could possibly be attacking the young women that he cared about. Katrina was in a lot of danger, and Harry would do whatever he could to keep her safe.   
He left the Astronomy Tower and headed into the coridor. To his right, was a magnificent looking window, stepping out onto a outdoor balcony with many large gargoyles. Harry found himself drawn to the window, and felt a great desire to step out on to that balcony. He examined the window. Harry saw that it opened by pushing it up, but there was a lock on it. He pointed his wand at it and watched as the lock opened. Harry then liften up the window and stepped out onto the balcony.  
The balcony was very beautiful, and a bit romantic, in an odd sort of way. The style was French Gothic, and reminded Harry of "The Hunchback of Notre Dam".   
Harry knew at once why he was so drawn to this place. Katrina Figg was sitting there with her arms wrapped around Percy Weasley. When Harry stepped out onto the balcony, he pratically tripped over them. they were apparently sharing a very personal moment.   
"Harry!" she gasped.  
It was not a vision of Katrina that he wanted to see. Her hair was messed up, and her makeup was a little smeared, some of it on Percy's face.   
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Percy demanded, jumping up, tossing Katrina from his embrace.   
Harry offered her his hand and pulled her from the cold ground.   
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, raising one eyebrow.   
"That's none of your business!" Percy bellowed. "What I is my business, is what you think you're doing here. Do you know that you can be expelled for being out on this balcony in the middle of the night! You are supposed to be in your bed!"  
"I don't think you're supposed to be here either." Harry replied.   
"I'm a Hogwarts staff member so I am allowed to go where I want when I'm not working! I have Dumbledore's permission to sit here if I want! But you're a student, and as a staff member, I'm going to have to report you."  
Harry sniggered. "Yeah, but does she?" Harry remarked, indicating Katrina. "I bet Katrina would get in a lot of trouble if I told Dumbledore she was here."  
"Oh, Harry, you wouldn't!" Katrina begged.  
"I just might." he said, eyes flashing. "And I think she'll get in a lot more trouble if Dumbledore knew that she was here making out with his personal secetary in the middle of the night. I think that might get his secetary in a little trouble too."  
"Oh, I see." Percy grumbled. "This is blackmail."  
"No, it's not blackmail. It's a deal. The deal is if you don't tell on me, I won't tell on you." said Harry.  
Percy sighed. "I don't like this one bit. This doesn't put me in a very good position, and it does not make me look very profesional when I have to make deals with students to keep myself and my girlfriend out of trouble."  
  
"No, but you lip locking with one of the students in the middle of the night doesn't look very profesional either." Katrina said. "Honestly, Percy, I think Harry's right. Don't tell on him, he'll get in trouble, and I don't want him to get in trouble. And then he'll tell on us, and just think about what would happen if my uncle knew we were here."  
"Your uncle knows we are dating and he has told me that he's very happy about our realionship." said Percy.  
"Yeah, but would he be happy about you sneaking off with me in the middle of the night?" Katrina asked.  
Percy didn't have an answer to that.   
He sighed again. "Okay, Harry, you win. Katrina, you and Harry go back to your Dormintary, and as for me, I'm going home."  
The three of them did not speak as they headed down the corridors. Percy headed off to the Entrance and Katrina and Harry turned toward their house.   
"Harry, what were you doing out tonight?" she asked him once Percy was far away.  
"That was my own business." said Harry. "Although I already know you were doing out there tonight."  
"Percy is my boyfriend, Harry." she said.  
"And what about me?"  
"Harry, you know I love you, but I love Percy too."   
She put her hand on his shoulder in the dark, but he pushed it off.  
"You can't love both of us." he told her.  
She laughed and it startled Harry.  
"Well, then I must be doing something wrong because I am in love with both of you."  
Harry shook his head. "You can't love two different guys at the same time. I don't know much about these things, but I think being in love means that you only want that person and not anybody else in the whole world. If you think that you could be in love with both of us, then that means you don't love either of us."  
Katrina's voice broke with tears and emotion as she began to speak. "But you don't understand, that's the way that I feel. I can't help this, it's just how things are. Please don't be mad at me."  
"I'm not mad at you." Harry said. "I'm in love with you, and I want you to feel that same way with me."  
She sighed, as she turned to walk into her Dormintary. "If you love me as much as you that you do, then you will try to understand. If you really love me, then you'll want me to know for sure how I feel, and you'll want me to be ready." 


	20. Important Discovieries

Chapter 19  
Important Discoveries  
  
Disclaimer: I think that when you write a fan fiction that is as long as this one is, it's pretty stupid to have a disclaimer on every freaking chapter. But I think I'll sprinkle one in every now and then just for good measure. Oh, #$%^! I can't think of any witty or funny ones.   
(graps Katrina Figg by the neck and drags her over here.  
  
Katrina Figg (clears her throat): Hey, people, this story was written by Amanda, not JK Rowlings. Amanda makes a lousy six bucks an hour selling Chalupas to crabby old people at Taco Bell, and JK Rowlings gets paid to write novels all day and makes millions. Jk Rowlings is a good writer and Amanda is just a mediocre wanna-be. JK Rowlings has great hygiene while Amanda.....  
  
Amanda the Author: Okay..okay. I think they get the point. You know it's not very nice to insult the author.   
  
Katrina: (laughs) Well, it may not be nice, but it's kind of funny.  
  
Amanda the Author: (shakes fist threateningly) You better behave yourself, Miss Katrina Figg or I'll get even with you.  
  
Katrina: (snickers) Oh, yeah, what are you gonna do to me? You've already made me fall in helplessly in love with both Percy Weasley and Harry Potter. You know, that sure wasn't very nice...  
  
Amanda the Author: Hey, love triangles make things interesting, and they are fun to write too!!!!! Besides, I could do a lot worse to you.  
  
Katrina: Like what?  
  
Amanda the Author: I could make you fall in love with Neville too.  
  
Katrina: Don't diss Neville! He's my buddy! Besides, he's dating Ginny, and they really like each other.   
  
Amanda the Author: They are?  
  
Katrina: Duh!!!!!! You should know, your the person who is writing this stupid story!  
  
Amanda the Author: Okay, I forgot about them.   
  
Katrina: I smell a plot hole!!!!!!   
  
Amanda: Shut up or I'll force you to make out with Snape!  
  
Katrina: EEK! Okay, I'll be good. I swear.  
  
Amanda the Author: Oh, and I don't own Harry Potter, or anything else. I own Katrina Figg, Arizona Brown, and the plot of this story, and any new characters, but nobody wants them.   
  
Katrina: That's not true! Everybody loves me!  
  
Amanda: No, they don't!!!!!!!! Check out the poll section and see for yourself.  
  
Katrina: (cries) Oh my god! I never knew so many people thought I was a Mary Sue! Well, I kind am, but I try to be an interesting one! And they thought I was "too perfect"! (stops crying and grins) Well, I guess that is true. I am pretty perfect.   
  
Amanda the Author: No, you are not perfect! You have discolored toenails and have to take that special anti- toe nail fungus medication they are always advertising on TV when I am watching music videos on CMT.   
  
Katrina: (starts crying louder again) Hey! You promised not to tell anyone about that! Great! Now what's Harry gonna think of me! Oh man! Now I'm gonna be stuck dating Percy forever! Harry will never want me now!  
  
Amanda the Author: Well, okay, I think it's time to start this chapter now. I've got my point across and I made Katrina cry. All in all, it's a good day for me! Now, I'm going to begin this story, and stop stalling. In case you are wondering, I had writer's block!!!!!!  
**************************************************************************  
  
The next morning, Harry woke up early, and woke up Ron and Hermione. Neither one of them were too happy about being awoken, but when Harry showed them the book, they were both eager to read it.   
Hermione was nervous about reading the book in the common room, so they went to the one place that they knew they would have privacy, Moaning Myrtle's bathroom!  
"Hello Myrtle." said Hermione ,trying to be cheerful.   
Myrtle just frowned and ignored her. "Hello Harry." she said in a flirting voice. "Come to visit me?"  
"Of course." lied Harry. "I wanted to spend some time alone with you, but before I can do that, I've got to read a book with Hermione and Ron."  
"Oh, is it for school?" asked Myrtle.  
"Yes, it's a very hard book to read, so we came here for peace and quiet." said Harry.  
"Well, I don't want to keep you from your work." said Myrtle. "I'll be back in an a half hour, send you friends away, and we will have a nice long talk."  
With that, Myrtle floated down a toilet and was gone.  
"Whew!" sighed Harry. "I'm glad to have gotten rid of her!"  
  
Hermione flipped open the book. "Whoa!" she said. "There's a whole chapter her about Esmerellda Figg."   
She skimmed the chapter. "But it's all stuff that we already know."  
"Why would Esmerellda Figg be in that book?" asked Ron.   
"Because she was kidnapped by Death Eaters." answered Hermione.  
  
Then Hermione gasped! "What's the name of Katrina's best friend? The one that is missing!"   
"Lu Willow." said Harry.  
"There's a chapter about his parents." she said.   
"Read it!" Harry exclaimed.  
  
"After the defeat of the Dark Lord by the young Harry Potter, most of the Death Eaters left the group, fearing punishment. Mordrid Willow, was You-Know-Who's top Death Eater, and since He-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named does not have any children, he long ago made plans that if something should happen to him, Mordrid Willow, would be is heir, and rule in his place. Mordrid Willow was a very young man during this time, in his mid to late twenties. He had a wife named Sheeva who was also a Death Eater, and one son, a toddler named Luther Nero Willow. Mordrid Willow was quickly captured by a group of British Aurors after the Dark Lord's defeat, and were killed. However, their son, called Lu, was allowed to live. The Aurors said it would be cruel to kill the child, he was just a toddler, and had no knowledge of what his parents did. The Willows had no living relatives, and the story of young Lu Willow's parents was famous in Europe, so Lu was sent to live in a wizzarding foster home in the USA. Most wizards and witches who are knowledgeable about Death Eaters, and the Dark Arts, and are well educated agree that Lu Willow is just a harmless boy whose was born into the wrong family. At the time this book was published, Lu is 13.. But their is a belief that wizards do not come to their true strength and utmost ability until after their sixteenth birthday.   
  
"This book is a couple years outdated! How old is Lu now!" asked Ron.  
"Well, he's the same age as Katrina, so I guess that would make him 16 or maybe 17 at the most." replied Harry.  
"Shh!" said Hermione, as she continued reading.  
  
This belief about wizards coming to their full capabilities at age 16 is an ancient one. Well educated Magical Scientists and Medi-wizzards have mixed views about this ancient belief. Some say that a wizard or witch will have their full magical power at birth, but must be trained and educated to be able to fully use their powers. Others believe that a wizards powers come to full strength around age 12, which is when magical schools such as Hogwarts, Durmstrang, or John Proctor School, admit first year students. Still others believe that wizards who have the potential to do powerful things in the Dark Arts are the only ones whose powers change or fully develop after their 16th birthday. In my research, I have spoken to many top scholars who are well educated in the subject of the Dark Arts, the defense of such, and the culture of those who participate in such murderous deeds as the Dark Arts.   
  
"Wonder if this author spoke to the Malfoy family." Ron joked.   
  
The 16th birthday of a young wizard is a very important event in the life of a Dark wizard. These Dark wizards call this milestone birthday the "awakening" because this is when their powers come to full force, and often new powers and strength "awake" inside of them. After the downfall of You-Know-Who and Mordrid and Sheeva Willow, many top Death Eaters that were captured alive by Aurors supposedly said that young Lu Willow had inherited the top spot in their master's demoniacal organization. Whether or not this rumor is true has not been confirmed or denied. Either way, it is quite disturbing that someone the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters would wish to be the heir of their organization may come to full power in a few years. This author finds comfort in the fact that young Lu Willow is living in the USA and not here in Europe. It does not seem to this author that attending the John Proctor North American School of Magic has helped the young wizard any. There have been reports that Lu has gotten into several fights at school, and as even cast violent spells on people. This author visited John Proctor School in hopes to interview young Lu Willow for the education of my readers, but was unable to get that interview. However, I did get a glimpse of the young man while on campus. Unfortunately, the photo is a bit blurry, but it shows Lu sitting on the outside campus steps preparing some school work.   
  
"Oh my God!" said Ron.  
Harry was speechless.   
"It does not say anything important after that." Hermione said. "It just talks about how hopefully living away from Death Eaters in the USA and with foster parents would teach morals to him, and how the author hopes those rumors are untrue and he really is not the one to inherit You-Know-Who's league of supporters after all."  
"Show me the photo." said Ron.  
"It's very blurry." said Hermione. "But okay. If you really want to see what he looks like, all you'd have to do is ask Katrina. She has tons of photo albums full of her and her American friends."  
The three of them looked at the photo. It showed Lu sitting at the base of some marble steps outside his school. Walking down the steps was a girl, but her head was cut off. The photo was blurry and black and white. It looked like it had been taken from very far away and then enlarged. But you could see that the girl walking down the steps was wearing a very bold leopard print t-shirt.   
"That looks like some of the obnoxious things that Katrina wears" Hermione joked. "That girl sure does have some weird taste."  
Harry looked at the photo closer. Only the girl's chin was showing, but you could barley make out the outline of a necklace, if you looked really hard and squinted a bit.  
"That's Katrina in the picture!" he exclaimed. "I can see her necklace!"  
"So?" asked Hermione. "You knew they are friends, who would it surprise you that she would be in the picture?"   
"Because he's jealous." teased Ron, playfully punching him in the shoulder. "Jealous that she's going out with my brother and not him, and jealous that she's in a photo with another guy."   
Harry rolled his eyes. "I think Katrina really did see Lu that day at Hagrid's house that she was attacked! I think he's the one that attacked her in the middle of the night, and stole her necklace."   
"I think you are right, Harry." said Hermione. "I was thinking the exact same thing. I mean, just look at the facts, if Dark Arts wizards get their full powers at age 16, and he's the same age as Katrina, that means he just got his full powers. And he's suddenly disappeared. He's got to be the one that has been doing all the attacking. and this book says that his father was a top Death Eater, and the man behind You-Know-Who, so his son would inherit his proper place in the Death Eater's society. And You-Know-Who came back last year! Oh, it's gotta be him!"  
  
"But why would he attack Katrina? I thought they were friends." asked Ron. "Call me old fashion, but I just don't think it's too bloody friendly to try to kill your friends."  
  
"Isn't it obvious!" exclaimed Hermione. "Katrina is Dumbledore's niece, and Dumbledore is a famous wizard, not just here either, all throughout the world, so they must have known in that American school about him, and everybody probably knew that she was his niece, just like everybody knows here. After all, I heard that Dumbledore knows the, oh, what do they call it in America, oh yeah, the Principal of that school really well, and has visited Katrina there many times. He's one of the very few foreigners that know the exact location of the school. At least, that is what Katrina told me once. But if Lu Willow is such a big Dark Wizard, he'd want revenge on the Aurors that were responsible for killing his parents."  
  
"I don't get it." said Ron. "How would attacking Katrina get revenge on the Aurors. Yeah, she is Dumbledore's niece, but Dumbledore is no Auror."  
"No, but Katrina's grandparents were. Katrina's grandma is Dumbledore's brother. And Dumbledore fought against the Death Eaters, and works with the Ministry so he'd have a lot to do with Aurors and their activities" Harry said with his brain running a mile a minute. "And Voldermort and the Death Eaters always hated and were afraid of Dumbledore, so attacking a member of his family would be something they would want to do to seek revenge. Lu knew that who Katrina's uncle was, and probably made friends with her just so he could get close to her and attack her once his powers fully develop. Dumbledore probably suspected this, so, he moved her here away from Lu now that Lu is 16 so that Dumbledore could protect her, but now Lu has convently disappeared!"   
  
"Well, that makes sense to me now, but please don't say You-Know-Who's name again." Ron said looking very tense.   
  
Harry didn't pay attention to Ron. His thoughts were somewhere else. His face turned very pale.  
"Are you okay?" asked Hermione. "You look like you are going to be sick."  
"He's coming and he's going to attack her again. He'll probably lure her into a trap because he knows she knows he is missing and is really worried about her. Maybe Lu has gotten into contact with Voldemort! Maybe he wants Lu to kidnap her and bring him to her. Voldemort would use her as ransom, and blackmail Dumbledore into giving her back. Maybe he would use her in some spell to make himself stronger like he did to me last year when he came back. Voldemort would do it. And Lu's power must be strong if his father was Voldermort's top Death Eater, and the chosen heir if something would happen to Voldemort. No, Voldemort wouldn't choose anyone who didn't have great powers. Katrina will be attacked or kidnapped. She's always getting into trouble. She won't see through it. Oh, I've got to warn her! I swear, I'd die myself before I'd let Voldemort take her!"   
  
"Are you sure telling Katrina about this would be the best thing to do?" asked Hermione.  
  
"What?" asked shocked Ron. "Of course that's the best thing to do! She's gotta be warned! If she knows what is going on, maybe she'll be more aware and more careful."  
  
Hermione shook her head. "No, I don't think that is the best thing to do. It will only worry her and freak her out. I mean, how would you feel if someone told you that one of your best friends is really You-Know-Who's heir, and is going to attack her or try to kidnap her and take her to him. You'd be either terrified and not be able to live your daily life, or you wouldn't believe a word of it. And if she'd did not believe you, she'd have more blind trust in Lu because she'd be determined to prove Harry wrong. Which would make her even more vulnerable."  
  
Ron scratched his head. "But if You-Know-Who wants to be immortal, and that is his ultimate goal, then why would he choose anyone to be his heir, after all, a heir is someone that gets everything or takes over when you die. And if you are immortal, you don't die, so you don't need a heir. That's like an immortal person writing a will."  
  
"You-Know-Who probably choose a heir in case he was unable to go on. He wasn't immortal yet, so he could still be killed, or have something really bad happen to him, so he needed somebody to be the one to take charge in case that happened before he succeeded in his goal and become immortal." said Hermione.   
  
Harry sighed. "I think she could not possibly get any more vulnerable. She's always needing me to rescue her, whether it is falling of a broom stick because there was a spider, or running out of Divination class on her first day, or running off through the school grounds that time right before she got attacked outside of Hagrids. She's always doing stupid stuff."  
  
Then Harry thought of something that really upset him. "Or when she snuck out in the middle of the night with Percy out on that stupid balcony in the Astronomy Tower!"  
  
"Whoa!" gasped Ron. " How come I was not told about this? This is too good to be true! That is defintly against the rules! Oh man, why didn't you tell me about this! Percy is not supposed to be here in the middle of the night wandering around like that with a student! And Katrina was defintly not supposed to be out of bed, and out with her boyfriend in the Astronomy Tower of all places! Oh my God! I can't believe it! My brother encouraging his girlfriend to break rules! And breaking them with her! Oh my God! Man, that girl has got a hold on Percy if he's willing to break rules to spend some time alone with her. Ewww, I can only imagine what you saw them doing, Harry. I sure would not want to see that! It'd scar me for life! Diiiiiiiisguuuuuuuuuuuustinnnngggggg!"   
But Katrina and he relationship with Percy was the last thing on Harry's mind.   
  
"She could have gotten killed! She's such a klutz, she could have fallen right off it, or if Lu is really after her, that would have been the perfect time to bump her off. Nobody there except Percy, and no offense, Ron. But your brother would not be much protection. Lu could have easily attacked her, kidnapped her, or just plain pushed her off the roof, and nobody would have a clue what happened, because nobody would have noticed she was gone until she didn't show up for breakfast. Maybe not even then!" Harry said. "I've got to talk to her about this. Maybe if she knows, she won't do such stupid things! And I'm going to have to stay near her! I've faced Voldemort so many times, I may not be much of a match, but I've made it out okay. I'm not completely hopeless. Maybe I can keep her safe, maybe I can't, but I have no choice but to try!"  
  
Hermione sighed. "You love her, don't you?" she asked him.  
Harry did not respond. He left Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and headed back to the Gryfindor Tower.  
  
*************************************************************************  
  
When Harry got back upstairs, he found lots of kids sitting around laughing, talking ,and working on last minute homework before classes would start. Classes were going to begin in about half an hour. Katrina was sitting on the floor in the corner by herself, strumming her guitar, and a slender black cat wearing a handsome collar and name tag sitting next to her.   
"Hi Harry." she greeted him. "Come to meet Ptolemy?"  
"That's not that cat Arizona sent you? I thought he was gray."   
She shrugged. "I guess the photo was off color or something. Either way, he sure is a sweet little guy. Isn't he handsome!"   
"Yeah, I guess so." said Harry. "Anyway, there is something I wanted to talk to you about."  
"Me too. I really wanted to talk to you about something also." she said.  
"Okay, you first." replied Harry. He thought talking to Katrina about this might be a bit tough but he realized that telling the young woman that he loved that her friend was Voldermort's heir, and going to attack her, was going to be the hardest thing he's ever have to tell anyone. How was he ever going to make this sound right?  
  
Katrina smiled at him, as she took his hand. She held it behind her lager guitar case, so nobody could see her gently stroke his hand.   
"Harry," she said in a soft, gentle voice that was so slow, it sounded like she was caressing each syllable. "Harry, I am worried about you."  
"Er, okay." said Harry. "Why would you be worried about me?"  
"You love me, don't you, Harry" she asked.   
"Er, yes, I do. You know that." said Harry.  
"So, would you promise me something? If you really love me like you say you do, then you'd promise me this."  
"I'd promises you anything, but what does this have to do with you worrying about me?" asked Harry.  
"Promise me you won't play Quiditch anymore!" she said.  
"What?" Harry, said, pulling away from her. "You don't want me to play Quiditch anymore?!?!?! Why not?"  
"I'm afraid you are in danger. I don't think what happened with Cho was an accident. I think somebody did that on purpose. I don't know why or how. But they did. And I think they did it to upset you. You know, her being someone you knew from the Quiditch field, and her dying in front of you, and everyone else like that."   
"I can't believe this." said Harry. "Quiditch is very important to me. How could you possibly ask me to give it up?"  
"More important that your life?" asked Katrina. "Face it, Harry, you are very vulnerable out on the Quiditch field."  
Harry pulled his hand away from her. "I am not, nor have I ever been vulnerable!" he yelled.  
Several people turned and starred at them.  
"Look," he whispered, noticing the stares, "I've been attacked by Voldemort several times and if I can survive that monster, I don't think I'm exactly vulnerable!"   
"Harry, I care about you, and I don't want you to get hurt." she said sincerely.  
"If you care about me so much, then why are you with Percy? You must not care about me very much if you are dating another damn guy! Why don't you make up your mind and choose me or him! If you care about me, you would not lead me on, and if you cared about Percy, you would not be interested in me. It doesn't seem like you care about anybody." he said angrily, and hostily.   
Katrina looked at him like he had just shot a dagger through her heart, and Harry knew right away that this was not the right thing to say.   
"I'm sorry, Katrina. I really did not mean that." he apologized. "I know you are worried about me, and you are right, Quiditch is very dangerous and I am a bit, well, I don't know if vulnerable is the best word, but I could get hurt by a bad Bludger or get knocked off my broom or something, but I'm pretty safe from being attacked by a Dark Wizard while I'm out in front of the whole school like that. Too many witnesses. And besides, they say Cho Chang's death was an accident."   
  
"Don't be stupid, Harry. That was no accident." she hissed. "Cho Chang was murdered, and you will be too if you are not careful. I don't want anything to happen to you, but I can sense danger is approaching. And I want to keep you safe. But maybe if you are too stupid to see that your fate is handing by a thread, the very threads of your Quiditch robes, then maybe your not worth being alive at all. Maybe your just a waste oxygen, valuable oxygen that those of us who are smart enough to see the truth could use!"   
  
And with that, she stormed out the Portrait Hole, leaving her guitar, and her cat behind.  
Ptolemy hissed at him and stormed off to the Fifth Year Girl's Dormitory, remarkably similar to the way his owner had just left for the Portrait Hole a moment ago.  
  
Hermione and Ron rushed up to Harry.  
"Did you tell her?" they asked anxiously. "What happened? What did she say? Did she take it well? Is she upset?"  
Harry shook his head. "I didn't get the chance. She wanted to talk to me about something she was worried about."  
Harry explained to them about Quiditch.  
"But you can't quit Quiditch! Your the best Seeker Gryfindor has ever had! The team would never win again if it was not for you!" Ron cried.  
"Wellllllll," said Hermione. "She does sound sensible. After all, she does have a valid point. I thought Cho's death sounded suspicious, but everyone said it was an accident, so I believed them. But I never really, truly believed that it was an accident. Maybe she is right, and you should listen to her, Harry."  
  
Harry groaned. "Not you too, Hermione."  
"Yeah, what do you girls got against Quiditch anyway?" asked Ron.  
"Oh, shut up, Ron!" she yelled. "I don't have anything against Quiditch at all! I just don't think Harry's life is less important that a Quiditch game!"   
"My life is not in any danger at all!" said Harry.   
"Well, it will be if we don't get going!" said Hermione. "We're going to be late to Potions and Snape we'll kill us if we are late!" 


	21. In the Rain

Chapter 20   
In the Rain  
"Quiditch practice this afternoon!" Ron announced excitedly as they sat down at breakfast in the Great Hall. "I can't wait to get on my broomstick! It seems like I haven't flown in forever."  
"Yeah, they spent so much time investigating Cho's death and not letting us play that I'm afraid I'm all out of practice." Harry said. Hermione gave him an odd look. "But it was important for the teachers to do their investigation, and Quiditch isn't important as someone's life." he added hastily to satisfy Hermione.  
"I hope today's classes go by really fast!" said Ron.  
"Hate to burst your bubble, Ron, but remember, we have Double Potions today." reminded Hermione.  
Ron sighed. "Did you really have to mention that?" he companied. "Well, there goes my good mood!"  
"Hey, things aren't all bad." Harry said. "It's Friday and tomorrow is the start of a Hogsmeade weekend!"  
"Oh cool!" exclaimed Ron. "I had forgotten all about that."  
"Hi guys!" Katrina said, as she flopped down at the table. "Sorry, I'm late. I slept in way too much!"  
"So I noticed." laughed Hermione. "You were in their snoring! I told the guys you were gonna be a little late today."   
Katrina giggled. "I was snoring?!?!"  
Hermione nodded.  
Stilling giggling, Katrina said, "That sounds just like me! I snore! I talk in my sleep! I sleepwalk! Hey, I even drool!"  
"Did you hear about Percy?" asked Ron.  
"Yeah, I heard. He sent me an Owl last night. He's got the stomach flu really bad. He couldn't even come into work today! And you know Percy must be sick if he misses work! He can't come tomorrow for the Hogsmeade weekend either." Katrina said.  
"Percy can't come tomorrow. Oh darn." said Harry, pretending to be upset. Nobody believed him because he was a terrible actor. "I guess that means you'll hang out with us?"  
She laughed nervously. "Well, that's what I was planning on doing. That's not a problem, is it?" she asked.  
"No, not at all." said Harry, smiling at her.  
The two of them sat there starring at each other across the table with goofy smiles.  
Hermione and Ron chuckled knowingly.  
*************************************************************************  
When Harry, Ron, Hermione arrived at Potions, they could tell it was not going to be a good day. A class of Fourth Year Gryfindor and Fourth Year Slytherins had just been there. The class included Ginny Weasley and Colin Creevy. Harry knew things were not going well when the class was held late. Snape very very very rarely kept entire classes late, he was too eager to get rid of his students. Of course, this did not include small groups of students, mostly Gryfindor, whom he wished to torture.  
Draco Malfoy and his fellow Slytherins were not happy about being locked out.  
"Wonder what's going on in there?" he said to Crabbe and Goyle.   
They shrugged their shoulders.  
"Hey Weasel!" he called out to Ron. "Your stupid sister is in that class! What did she do now?"  
Ron swelled up in anger but before he could speak, Hermione did.  
"How do you know it wasn't a Slytherin who caused the problems?" she demanded as they could hear Snape shouting inside the class room.   
"Shut up, you stupid little Mudblood!" he yelled at Hermione. "Bet it was that little Weasel brat! You know, we don't like standing out in the hall forever!"  
"Don't talk about Ginny like that!" Neville yelled, turning toward Malfoy. He slowly walked up to him, with a look of anger on his face. Harry had never seen Neville look like anybody like that before.  
"Oooo. What are you going to do about it?" Malfoy said, mocking him.  
Before Malfoy could say anything else, Neville jumped on him and was pounding him furiously in the face. Everybody was very surprised, but nobody was more shocked that Draco Malfoy himself.   
"DON'T....YOU...EVER...TALK..ABOUT...MY...GIRLFRIEND...LIKE....THAT....AGAIN!" he bellowed as he beat Malfoy.  
"Whoa! Go Neville" cheered Ron, Harry, and Hermione. Katrina stood their with a very amused look on her face.  
Finally, the class that had to stay in late, walked out of the room, practically trampling Malfoy and Neville who were rolling around on the floor fighting.   
When the students realized what they had walked into, they all started cheering.  
"What's going on? Why is Neville fighting Malfoy?" asked a very nervous Ginny.  
"Malfoy was talking bad about you, so Neville jumped him." explained Katrina.   
"My boyfriend did what?!?!" gasped Ginny. "Neville, let him go! Your gonna get in trouble!"  
"What the hell is going on out here!" hissed Snape.  
Immediately, Neville left Malfoy.  
"Longbottom attacked me, Professor!" exclaimed Malfoy. "I didn't do anything wrong!"   
"That's; not true! He was talking bad about my girlfriend!" yelled Neville.  
Snape chuckled. "You have a girlfriend, Longbottom? What witch would go out with you?"   
"I would." said Ginny very meekly.  
"Oh." said Snape. "That explains it."   
The Slytherins sneered.   
"Get to your classes!" Snape demanded to the younger students. "The rest of you, get in my room! Detention for you, Longbottom, and 100 points from Gryfindor."  
"What about Malfoy and Slytherin?" Katrina whispered in Harry's ears.  
"Bet they won't get anything." Harry whispered back.   
"Are you alright?" Snape asked Malfoy.  
"Sure, I am alright!" said Malfoy, who was sporting several bruises, scratches and a black eye. "Longbottom barely got me."  
  
Harry could see what the problem had been when he walked into the classroom. There was a lot of stains of an orange potion all over the dungeon floor.   
"Don't worry. It can't hurt you." Snape sneered. "Stupid Miss Weasley and Mr. Colin Creevy caused their cauldrons to explode all over the class room. I was having them scrub the whole floor, but they will have to finish tonight in Dention with you, Mr. Longbottom. It's only an Attention Holding potion. Very simple, very basic. It's too bad those dunderheadss messed it up, or I could have given it to you."  
  
They were learning a new potion that day. It was called a Balding Potion and like the name implies, it caused people to lose their hair where ever it touched their bodies. The students wore thick gloves and were very careful because nobody want that Potion to give them a big bald spot, even though it only lasted for a few hours. Snape explained that the Potion was very gentle on the skin, but would burn any hair on the body right off, even including the very thin and very fine hair on your fingers or arms. The potion was used for Wizards and Witches who do not like to shave, or for Wizards who have completely bald heads and what their head to be as shiny and hair-free as a Muggle bowling ball.  
  
Snape was very grumpy all through out the class, and was determined to find things wrong with everyone's assignments, even when nothing wrong was even there. |Katrina was sitting between Harry and Neville, and was very giggly, and kept asking Neville excited questions about his fight with Malfoy.  
Snape was not happy about this, and kept frowning as he walked by.  
When the bell rang, much to Harry's surprise, Snape asked her to say late.  
"What do you think is going on in there?" asked a nervous Harry, as he, Hermione and Ron waited outside the closed dungeon door for Katrina.   
"No idea." said Ron. "Do you think he's mad about her goofing off in class with you and Neville.?"  
"No, I don't think that's what it is." said Harry, thoughtfully.  
Hermione, who had her ear resting against the Dungeon door, hushed them. "I can almost hear what he is saying!"  
Harry and Ron instantly leaned their ears against the wall too.   
"I have the right to decide what is best for me." they heard Katrina tell Snape. "I know the seriousness of this situation. And I know what my responsibilities are. I don't ignore them."   
"I think you are forgetting how important this all is." replied Snape.  
"I have never forgotten the importance of what I am doing." said Katrina.   
  
"I think you are getting to close to the situation." said Snape.  
"How can I be? Harry is my friend!" she said angrily.  
  
Harry gasped at the sound of his name. Ron kicked him.  
  
"I've seen you with him. And I have seen the way you are acting around him. Don't you think that your getting just a little too close? You know what your duties are, and you know what you have to do. Don't forget about your duties when you're with him!"  
"I haven't forgotten about my duties!" Katrina spat.  
"Good because I haven't forgotten about mine. I've been spying on the Death Eaters during my time off from here, and things are eerily quiet. They are plotting something. Something big."   
"And you don't think that I've never thought of any of this? Severus, I am not an idiot. And I'm not the little girl that you knew. I've grown up. You don't have to be so protective of me."   
  
Suddenly, Snape's voice changed into a compassionate tone that Harry or his friends had never heard before. It was almost frightening.  
  
"Katrina," he said smoothly. "How can I not be protective of you? And I know that you are a young woman now, and you are going to be a powerful witch when you are fully grown. But in my eyes, you are just that little baby I held in my arms after you were born."   
They could hear Katrina give a loud sigh.  
"I just don't like seeing you with that Potter boy. I know what your assignment is, and I know what Albus thinks is best, but I don't want you to get hurt."  
Katrina shook her head. "Harry is my friend, and I know that he would never hurt me. He cares a lot about me."  
  
Even though Harry was listening through the door, he could see in his mind, the smirk that was on his face when he spoke again.  
  
"I've seen that he cares about you. I think everyone can see that he really cares about you. I know I have noticed the way he looks at you when you walk by."   
  
"Don't be ridiculous, Severus, I'm with Percy." she said, sending knives into Harry's heart.  
"Percy Weasley, kind of meek, but I must admit he's probably the best Weasley. At least he works hard and knows how to follow rules, unlike his good-for-nothing brothers." said Snape.   
"Don't be mean. I like the Weasleys." she said.   
"Remember your mission. Do what you have to do. Be professional. Get the information you need, but don't get too involved, and don't let your emotions get in the way. You being so friendly with the Potter boy makes it harder for you to do your job. You know what I want you to do."  
"I know." she said. "Believe me, I know."   
"You are just like your mother." Snape said tenderly. "you look just like her. She was a very beautiful woman. She broke a lot of hearts when she was at Hogwarts."  
"And yours was one of them." said Katrina.  
"Yes." Snape sighed. "I loved your mother very much but I could never have her. She liked that ridiculous James Potter."  
"Harry's dad?" asked Katrina.  
"Yes, Harry's dad." Snape said in disgust. "At first James Potter was attracted to her. How could he not be? But then, he started noticing Lilly, and he forgot all about Esmerellda. Sirus Black liked her, but she wanted James Potter. I was crazy about her, but she almost went crazy longing for James Potter. A few weeks after we graduated, she sent me a message. I spent sometime with her, we were engaged for a while. But she left me. And then I found out that she had you."   
"I wish my mom would have stayed with you." Katrina said.   
"So do I. Maybe I could have protected her." he said softly. "Maybe things would have been very different."   
"I've got to get to my class." said Katrina.   
"Oh yes, you get to your class." said Snape, sounding like his old self. "But spend more time away from Harry. Don't be such good friends with him."  
  
As they heard footsteps indicating that Katrina was leaving the room, Harry, Hermione, and Ron dashed off as fast as they could so that Katrina or Snape would not know they were spying on the very private conversation.   
"Am I getting this right?" Harry asked breathlessly as they ran up the stairs to class, "Or does it sound like Snape is Katrina's father?"  
They nodded.   
"But Katrina always said that she is an orphan?" questioned Hermione.   
"She never really said that he was dead, she just said that he was gone or that he left. He must have abandoned her after her mom died!" said Harry.   
  
**************************************************************************  
  
That day at lunch, nobody dared to confront Katrina about her conversation with Snape. She was in a very grumpy mood, and they decided it was best not to talk to her very much at all.  
She kept mumbling under her breathe. "Stupid jerk! Tries to tell me what to do! He can't tell me who do be friends with!"   
She looked over to where Snape was eating lunch at the Head Table with the other tables. She pulled her wand out of her jean pockets, and pointed it toward Snape under the table. She muttered some spell that Harry could not hear. She laughed. "That will take care of the little greasy haired brat."  
Harry looked over at where Snape was taking a sip from his goblet. A funny look came over his face, and he spat what looked like lemonade back into his goblet.   
Katrina burst into hysterical laughter. "Moose urine." she giggled. "Works every time!"  
************************************************************************  
Harry and Ron acidly walked toward the Quiditch field for practice. They were very anxious to get back on their broomsticks. The first thing they did was practice flying around.   
Ron was showing off some very fancy moves on his broom. When his brother, Charlie, found out that Ron had made the team, he went out and spent an entire one of his paycheck on buying Ron a brand new broom. It wasn't near as fancy as Harry's broomstick, but it was still very nice.   
All of a sudden, Ron's broom began to shake and vibrate.  
"What the bloody hell is going on here?" shouted Ron.  
Harry took one look at Ron's broom, and Ron trying to hold on to it, and he knew exactly what was going on. It was the same thing that had happened to Cho Chang. That was no accident, and Harry had to something or Ron would suffer the same fate.   
  
****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************  
  
Before Ron could see what he was doing, Harry flew over to Ron's broom, grabbed his hand, and threw him on the back of his broomstick. Harry quickly landed safely on the field, and the two of them watched in horror as Ron's brand new broom flew high into the air, stopped, and then nose dived straight onto the ground. Upon impact, the broom shattered into splinters.  
"Damn it!" shouted Ron. "That was a bloody new broom! Charlie spent a fortune on that thing!"  
"Ron, you would have been seriously injured or even killed if I had let you stay on that broom stick." said Harry.   
"I know it, Harry, I know it." said Ron, shaking his head in disbelief. "But of all the dirty rotten luck! That broom was the only new thing, the only really nice thing, that I've ver owned. You know, the only thing that was good quality, and belonged to me, just to me, and I didn't have to share it with anyone, and now something like this happens."  
"Maybe you're parents will buy you a new broom for Christmas. It's only 6 weeks away." Harry offered, thoughtfully as their fellow team mates circled around them.  
Everyone was in hysterics. They were all worried about Ron, who swore to everyone that he was perfectly alright. They were a little scared too. How could something like this happen at Hogwarts? The second broom attack? Someone must be doing something to the brooms!  
Somehow in all of the mess and confusion, Madame Hooch was called to the field. She was very shaken up, and quite worried about Ron. Once again, Ron tried to plea and plead with her to make her understand that he was physically okay, but a little mentally shook up. Madame Hooch drug Ron into the Hospital Wing to have Madame Pompey give him a look over. Harry followed along, but the nurse sent him away claiming that Ron was in too much distress to have his friends with him now.  
"But I'm fine! I'm fine!" protested Ron, as a very grumpy nurse pushed Harry out of the door, and slammed it behind him.   
With his mind spinning as fast as Ron's broomstick hit the ground, Harry turned around the sit on the floor next to the Hospital Wing door. Before he could even begin to collect his complicated thoughts, he saw Albus Dumbledore standing before him.  
"Harry, I'd like to have a word with you in my office." he said.  
"Yes, sir." Harry nodded, standing up.   
With a turn of his boots and swish of his coat, Dumbledore headed toward his office. "Mr. Weasley is okay, I presume?" he asked.  
"Ron?" said Harry feeling caught a little off guard. "Yeah, Ron's fine. I pulled him off his broom and onto mine before anything bad happened. He just got shook around a little bit."  
"I'm a relieved." Dumbledore said. "With the terrible tragedy of young Miss Chang, I was very worried about your friend."  
"I think Ron is more upset about the destruction of his new broom than anything." said Harry.  
Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, I do believe I saw young Mr. Weasley's broom at your last Quiditch game. I remember noticing it, and thinking that it was a very fine broom. Not as fine as your Firebolt, mind you, but a very nice broom all the same."  
  
When they arrived in his office, Dumbledore wore a much more grave expression that he wore when he was commenting on fancy broom sticks.  
"Sit down, Harry." he said, pointing to a chair near his desk.  
"Now, Mr. Potter." said Dumbledore, settling himself behind his desk. "These recent attacks are quite frightening, aren't they?"  
"You mean with the broomsticks?" asked Harry.  
He nodded. "First, Cho Chang was killed in that accident, and now today your best friend's broom stick went haywire on him, it could have very well killed him if you had not recognized this for what it was. Mr. Ron Weasley is a very lucky man to be alive. Besides the connection of the broomsticks, do you see any other connections?"  
Harry shook his head.  
Dumbledore sighed. "I believe you had very strong, er, romantic feeling toward Miss Chang." he said.   
"How do you know that?" asked a bewildered Harry.  
Dumbledore smiled slyly. "I have my ways, Mr. Potter, I have my ways. I may be old, but I remember very well what it was like to be young. And working at a school for as long as I have, I know the ways and thoughts of the young quite well. I could see it in the way you looked at her, Harry. I can see many things."  
Harry blushed, feeling very embarrassed to know that his Headmaster could tell that he used to have a crush on Cho Chang, if he could notice that, he would surely know that Harry had an interest in his niece!  
"And of course anyone that knows you will know that you are friends with Ron Weasley. That is very easy to tell." Dumbledore contained.  
"So, whoever is responsible for these things, they want to hurt people I care about?" asked Harry.  
"Perilously that, Mr. Potter." he replied.  
  
Harry felt very confused. Why would anyone want to hurt his friends and the people he was close too? What good could that do?  
  
Almost reading his mind, Dumbledore spoke again.   
"The Deatheaters have been very quiet lately. I believe they are planning something very big and very evil. I believe that you are in a lot of danger, Harry. More danger than before. My theory is that the person or persons who are responsible for these broomstick incidents have you as their main target, not Ron or Cho. They want you to slowly suffer, Harry. They want you to be in large amounts of pain before they attack you. They want you to be forced to watch terrible things happen to those you love, before they come after you."  
  
Harry's body filled with fear. Everyone that was important to him was in danger. Ron, Hermione, Katrina, the whole Weasley family, Hagrid, and more. It made Harry's head spin.  
"I am not telling you this to frighten you." said Dumbledore. "I am telling you this to warn you and make you aware of the seriousness of the situation. I want you to be careful, and not run off doing the careless things you've done in the past. You are in a lot of danger, Harry. The Death Eaters are quiet, too quiet, and I believe they are only trying to lure us into a false sense of security."  
"I agree with you, Professor." answered Harry. "But I think the one that is in real danger is Katrina."  
"My niece?" asked Dumbledore with a strange glow in his eyes.  
Harry nodded. "I think the Heir of Voldemort is after Katrina."  
Dumbledore sighed. "So, you have heard the ridiculous stories and rumors that have been circling concerning a supposed heir?"  
Again, Harry nodded. "You don't believe Voldemort has a heir?"  
The wrinkles in Dumbledore's face seemed to deepen and define right before Harry's very eyes. "I believe that Voldermort's heir would have very little interest in harming Katrina. I assure you, she is very safe here at Hogwarts, if I believed she was very vulnerable here, I would not have brought her here or allowed her to come. I do not have much family, Mr. Potter, but I place a very high value on the family that I have."  
Harry could almost see a single tear develop in the old man's eyes. But then, it must have been something else because a moment later, he sneezed.   
"You are my worry." Dumbledore continued. "You are the one that I am most afraid of. You are the one that I know that I must keep safe. Voldemort or one of his people will surely try to harm you. Therefore, I have an old friend here to keep an eye on you."   
A door on the side of the office opened, an on the other side of it was a large shaggy black dog.  
"Hello Sirus." muttered Harry. Normally he would have been excited to see his godfather but at this moment he was not. He had tried and tried to get in contact with Sirus, but he knew that he was busy rounding up the "old crowd" that Dumbledore had talked about the night Voldemort had risen. There were a lot of things that Harry wanted to tell Sirus, but Harry was very worried and scared. Not for himself, because Harry knew he could take care of himself if Voldemort came for him. He'd done it many times, even though the last time he had barely escaped. No, it was his friends that Harry was worried for. Especially Katrina. He already knew that Lu Willow was after her, and if someone was attacking the people he cared about the most, Katrina was very vulnerable. Ron and Hermione might be his best friends, and Cho Chang might have been an empty crush, but Katrina was the woman that he was deeply head over heels in love with.   
  
Harry watched as Sirus took over his human form.  
"Hello Harry." he said. "Are you okay?"  
Harry nodded.  
"Your Headmaster has asked me to come to Hogwarts and stay with you in my animal form to watch over you and make sure that you will be alright. I will stay near you until we feel that the situation is better, but do not worry. I will not stay so close to you that you can not have a normal life. Professor McGongall and (he sneered at this) Professor Snape know the truth about me. The other professors do not know about me, but Professor Dumbledore and I will arrange this, so don't worry. I will not join you until Monday, because if you start walking around with a dog the same day or right after Ron is attacked, some of the students may ask questions."   
"So, try to stay out of trouble this weekend, Harry." said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling warmly.  
"I will be staying here until Monday." said Sirus before he turned back into the shaggy black dog and went into the other room.  
"I know this will be a bit awaked for you, Harry." said Dumbledore. "And we don't mean to make you feel like a baby who has to have a nanny with him at all times. You must understand that your safety is most important to us."  
"I understand." said Harry.  
"Good." answered Dumbledore. "Now I suggest you return to Gryfindor Tower and go sit in the Common Room. I do imagine that Mr. Weasley will be let out of the Hospital Wing about the same time you get back."  
"Yes, Professor." said Harry as he left the office.  
**************************************************************************  
When Harry got back to Gryfindor Tower that night, we went straight to his bed even though it was quite early. His mind was too full of disturbing thoughts to deal with the happy, and carefree students who were excitedly gossiping, playing games and studying together. Ron or any of the Quiditch players must not have gotten back to the dormitory, or they would have much more unhappy looks upon their faces.   
Harry flopped into his bead, and let a loud sigh. He heard a soft click of the dormitory door, and saw Ron coming inside.  
Harry immediately sat up in the bed. "Are you alright, Ron?"  
Ron smiled. "Everybody thinks I should be a mess, but I'm okay. Nothing bad happened to me. I didn't get hurt. But how could something like this happen, Harry?"  
"Voldemort." said Harry. "It all comes back to Voldemort.  
Ron shuddered. "Don't say the name, Harry. Don't say the name!"  
Harry ignored him. "The Death Eaters have been very quiet. Too quiet. That means that are plotting something really bad, at least that is what Dumbledore told me."  
"you talked to Dumbledore? When?" asked Ron.  
"Right after Madame Pompey kicked me out of the Hospital Wing." he said. "Dumbledore was right by the door, so we went up to his office and we talked."   
"So, what did he tell you?" Ron asked.  
Harry explained everything. He told Ron about how the Death eaters were probably plotting something really evil, and how Dumbledore believed that Ron's and Cho Changs' broomstick accidents were related because the Death Eaters were going to attack all of Harry's closest friends. And he explained how Sirus was coming back.  
Ron just shook his head in disbelief. "You mean that You-Know-Who or one of his little cohorts made my broomstick do all those crazy things trying to kill me? To hurt you?"  
"Sounds like it." said Harry. "Pretty nasty stuff, huh?"  
"Do you think we should warn the girls?" asked Ron.  
"You mean Hermione, Ginny and Katrina?" said Harry.  
Ron nodded.  
Harry sighed. "That would probably be the best thing to do."  
"But I don't want them to be scared. If they know that You-Know-Who is after them, it's going to make it really hard for them to live a normal life." said Ron. A devilish grin spread across his boyish face. "And you know it would be an absolute shame if Hermione was distracted from her school work."  
"Where are the girls, anyway?" asked Harry.  
"Oh," said Ron. "Hermione was going to the library to study with Neville and Ginny. But I don't have a single clue where Katrina could be at."  
"Probably wandered off again like she always does." Harry said. "Well, at least we know she hasn't ran off somewhere with Percy. From the way you guys talked, it sounds like he can't go too far from his bathroom toilet."  
Ron chuckled. "Well, why don't we tell Hermione and Ginny in the morning. I'll have to tell my brothers too since everybody knows your so close with my family. But I don't think we should warn Neville. It would just frighten him, and you know how Neville is. Besides, Neville may be our friend, but your not so close to him that he would be in any extreme danger."  
"Your probably right." said Harry. "But I don't know about Neville. It kind of seems like we are looking at a new Neville Longbottom. Did you see the way that Neville beat Malfoy? Man, I'd never expect that!"  
"That was wicked." said Ron excitedly.   
  
Talking about Neville and Malfoyt's fight was just the kind of thing that Harry needed. Him and Ron chatted excitditly for about an hour and a half before they decided to go to sleep. It was just the thing that both of them needed to help them sleep a little bit better.  
*************************************************************************  
  
Harry and Ron got up extra early that morning. Not too thrilled about what they had to do, they sneaked into the Fifth Year Girls Dormitory and quietly woke Hermione up. They told her to get dressed and meet them by the fire. Hermione looked very confused, but she did what they asked her to do. Both boys felt very awkward inside the girl's dormitory, but that did not stop Harry from looking over to where Katrina bed was. To his surprise, it was empty.  
Harry quickly told Hermione everything that she needed to know. He was going to tell the Weasleys that afternoon when they got back from Hogsmeade. Harry was concerned more with where the heck Katrina was so early in the morning. When he asked Hermione if she knew, she just shrugged her shoulders and said she didn't have a clue.   
  
Nervous, they played a couple rounds of Exploding Snap before heading down to the Great Hall for a very early breakfast. Harry ate in silence as Hermione and Ron talked wondering where his girl was at, while the Hall filled up with students.   
At last, Harry saw Katrina walk through the doors, looking very pretty. She wore her long black Hogwarts robes to keep her warm, something Harry saw her do very seldom because she despised uniforms and cloaks. Her robes were not buttoned up, so they revealed her clothes. She was wearing a fitted light weight red cashmere sweater, and black bell bottom cotton pants. Above the knee, the pants were plain, but below the knew, they featured thousands of tiny silver glittery stars that sparkled when she walked. She wore her long hair loose, and flowing, and it blew in the wind as she walked. It was a bit curlier today than most days. On her feet, were a pair of black boots with high chunky heels that made her look much taller, and showed off the leanness of her long legs. Katrina looked over at the Gryfindor table and saw Harry. She grinned with her beautiful smile spreading from ear to ear. Harry couldn't help admire how beautiful she was as she walked toward him. He could almost hear music playing , the sound of angels singing for his love.   
But then something shattered Harry's vision of the girl that he loved. Walking behind Katrina, came Draco Malfoy through the door. He walked over toward her, rested his hand on her shoulder, and whispered something in her ear. Harry's body burned with fury. He could stand to see any other man near his Katrina, but how Draco Malfoy, that rat, his biggest enemy possibly dare to lay a hand upon her! It was enough to make Harry's very blood boil.   
Then to salt Harry's wounds, he saw Katrina turn her pretty little face toward Malfoy and she laughed. She laughed! Harry could hear the delicate little musical sound of her laughter all the way across the Hall, his eyes burning holes into Malfoy's neck. What could she possibly be doing with him?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?  
Harry watched unhappily as Katrina turned to say something in response to Malfoy, from what Harry could tell it looked like a goodbye, as she headed toward Gryfindor table, and Malfoy went off the other direction to join his fellow Slytherins.  
Luckily, none of his friends noticed the whole charade with Katrina and Malfoy, but they did notice the very angry look on Harry's face.  
"What's wrong, Harry?" asked Hermione.  
But Harry did not reply.   
Katrina slid into the chair next to him, and Harry, pretending that nothing was wrong at all, offered her a slice of toast.  
She grinned at him. "Thanks, Harry." she said. "So, where we are off to in Hogsmeade today? Anywhere interesting?"  
"Oh, just the usual." said Hermione, eyeing Katrina and Harry up suspiciously.   
"Well, I've been there so few times that it's all still so new and exciting to me." she said, taking a generous bite of her bread.  
**************************************************************************  
  
Harry knew it was a terrible thing to think, but he couldn't help but be grateful that Percy was too sick to come to Hogsmeade with them. He was having a really great time with Katrina. Spending time together was much more carefree when Harry knew that Percy wasn't going to turn up behind the corner any moment and start drooling all over her. Harry, Katrina, Hermione and Percy spent their morning walking around Hogsmeade talking and laughing. They ate lunch in a small cafe where Katrina insisted on treating everyone. So far, it had been a perfect morning. Everyone just seemed so happy that it made Harry forget about any trouble that Death eaters were causing. How could anything be wrong in the world on such a fun day? As a matter of fact, the only thing wrong with day was the weather. It was awfully gloomy looking outside. The skies were bleak as if they knew something that Harry didn't. Everywhere they went, Harry heard adults commenting on the weather.   
"It's look like rain." someone would say.  
"We'll sure have some nasty storms tonight." commented someone else.  
  
As the four of them walked out of the cafe, Harry noticed a black dog walk by the doors. The dog seemed to look at Harry as if he wanted Harry to follow him. Harry elbowed Ron and Hermione. "Sirus." he whispered in Ron's ears. "He wants to talk to me."  
"What about her?" asked Ron, indicating Katrina. She wasn't paying much attention to what Ron and Harry were talking about. She was busy waving to a group of third year Gryfindor girls that Harry didn't know.   
"Leave it to me. I'll distract her." whispered Hermione. "Just make sure you remember to tell me what Sirus says!"  
Harry nodded.  
"Hey Katrina!" said Hermione. "Hogsmeade has some really nice clothing shops. You want to go check them out?"  
"Of course I do!" said Katrina, excidly. "When I came here last time with Percy, I had him come into the clothing shops with me, but he was not very thrilled about it. He spent the whole time moping around, looking bored and out of place. He made me so nervous that I couldn't enjoy myself."  
"Yeah, guys aren't much fun to go clothes shopping with." said Hermione, smiling.  
"Girls night out!" Katrina joked. "Well, girl's afternoon out, anyway."   
Hermione grinned at Ron and Harry. "She may be nice but she has defintly got clothes on the brain." she whispered to the boys.   
"What are you two going to do while we're in the clothes stores?" asked Katrina. "I'd invite you along, but I think you'd get bored. At least you would, Ron, if your anything like your brother."  
"Oh, we'll be around." said Ron.  
"Yeah, don't worry about us." We'll find something to keep us entertained." said Harry.  
Hermione and Katrina waved as they headed toward the nearest shop.  
  
"Okay, now let's go find Sirus!" said Harry. "He was headed toward the Shrieking Shack."  
As the boy headed up the hill toward the Sheriking Shack, Ron turned to Harry and asked, "Why do girls like clothes so much?"  
"I don't know." said Harry. "I guess it's just a girl thing. I know I'm not interested in clothes. As long as I'm covered, and the stuff I'm wearing isn't torn, stained, or smelly, I'm okay."  
"Hermione isn't into all that girl stuff, is she?" asked Ron.  
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know,. She is a girl, after all."  
"She did get really dressed up at last year's Yule Ball." said Ron. "She looked so different, but she looked really, well, er, nice."   
His ears were turning as red as his hair.  
"Well, I wouldn't judge Hermione the same way as you judge Katrina. They are really different." said Harry. "As different as they are, it's amazing they are still friends."  
"Yeah, you can say that again." said Ron. "Hermione is smart but I think Katrina isn't exactly the deepest cauldron in the shop. She's nice, but she's not too smart."  
"That's not true." said Harry, feeling very annoyed with hearing someone call his Katrina dumb. "She's just as smart as Hermione, but in different ways. Hermione is book smart, but Katrina is very good at dealing with people. She does pretty good in school too, but she would do a lot better if she worked hard. She spends too much time playing her guitar. And she's interested in different stuff than Hermione. Katrina is interested in clothes and music, while Hermione is interested in books and more academic stuff."  
"Well, whatever." said Ron. He sighed, and stopped walking. "Look, Harry." he said. "There's something I gotta tell ya, and I don't really want to do it, but you've got to know. We all know you've got a huge crush on Katrina. Me and Hermione, we both know. But the thing is, the two of us were talking about it, and we don't think she is going to leave Percy for you."  
"Er, okay." said Harry. "What are you trying to get at?"  
"Hermione thinks that Katrina just likes the attention of knowing she's got another guy that likes her, and if things didn't work out with Percy, she could always go out with you. But I think things are going good with her and Percy. It sounds to me like they are pretty hot and heavy." said Ron.  
Harry's face flushed with anger. He didn't need Ron or Hermione to tell him what to do. It was his life, and his personal business! What right did they have to go sticking their noses in it and to try to tell him who he should and should not like?  
"As a matter of fact, she told me that she likes me." said Harry.   
"Oh,she does?" asked Ron, with one eyebrow raised.  
"That's what she told me." said Harry. "But she likes Percy a lot too, and she's confused."   
"Well, Harry, I don't want to make you mad or anything. Hermione and me don't want you to get hurt. You've been through a lot, with You-Know-Who coming back and everything. You don't need to be worrying about girls right now."  
"Yeah, I guess so." said Harry as the continued walking.  
  
When they got to the Shrieking Shack, they saw Sirus sitting in dog form looking at them. He ducked behind a tree and took on his human form. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked.  
Harry was confused. "We saw you in town. We thought you wanted to speak with us." he said.  
Sirus shook his head. "No, I didn't want you to see me. I'm sorry. I just thought with you going out in town it might be a good idea for you to have me near by. I'm sorry. I never meant for you to see me. When I saw you look at me, I took off, I was hoping maybe you would think I was just another dog."  
"We wouldn't think that." said Ron. "We have seen you too many times."  
"So, you didn't want us to come up here to talk with you?" asked Harry.  
"No, defiantly not. I know I said that I would not be following you until Monday, but I changed my mind and thought I'd keep a watch on you from a distance while you were in the village, just in case." said Sirus.  
Harry nodded. "I feel kind of stupid." he said. "Ron and I came all the way up here for nothing, and Hermione took Katrina into a clothing store to distract her so that she wouldn't come with us. Since she is not supposed to know about us."  
"Katrina Figg, huh?" said Sirus. "Dumbledore's niece. What does she look like?"  
Harry described Katrina to him, being careful to not make it sound like he was interested in her. Harry didn't need his godfather knowing about his crush too.  
Sirus smiled, a warm look coming over his haunted eyes. "And she's Esmerellda Figg's daughter?"  
Harry nodded. "I guess you knew her?"  
Sirus chuckled. "I knew her alright. She had a crush on your father, Harry, a really big crush on him. And James, well, he noticed her, liked her a little bit, mostly thought she was pretty, and then your mother came onto the scene, and as soon as Lilly started to talk to James, and spend a little bit of time with him, he was head over heels over Lilly and forgot all about Esmerellda Figg."  
"I've heard that story before." said Harry.  
"Have you?" asked Sirus.  
"Yeah, I overheard Professor Snape telling Katrina that story." he admitted.  
"Snape would know that story very well." said Sirus, chuckling again. "Old Snape, he really liked Esmerellda, I mean really liked her. But she didn't like Snape. She was really mad when your mom and dad started dating. Really really mad and really jealous."   
"That's kind of weird." said Ron.   
The three of them talked for a little bit longer about nothing important, and then said goodbye to Sirus, and headed back down to the village to see Katrina and Hermione. As they were walking back, it began to rain.  
"I hope we find them as soon as we get back!' said Ron, running. "And I hope there in a nice warm store with a good roof!"  
  
It wasn't hard to find the girls. They were in the Hogsmeade Fashion Boutique. Harry smiled as he saw Katrina rooting through rows and rows of beautiful femine looking clothing, and clutching a shopping basket that was half-way full. Hermione was standing in a corner by herself looking very bored, avoiding the stares of the oblivious sales-clerks who were probably wondering Hermione wasn't buying a cart full of stuff like Katrina was.  
"What do you have in there?" Harry asked, looking into her basket.  
She grinned mischievously. "The question is." she said, "what don't I have here? I've got a little bit of everything. Some pretty smelling perfume..,here Harry take a wiff of that...isn't it gorgeous?"  
She put the bottle up to Harry's nose and removed the cap. It smelled like fresh spring flowers mixed with aroma of oranges and tangerines. Harry blushed as he noticed the bottle, which was shaped like a curvy and rather and well-blessed figure of a woman.   
"It's called "Goddess of the Tropics", she informed him. "Oh, and I've got some new toe-socks, aren't they adorable, and some new boots, I just love boots, a girl has to have at least a dozen pairs, too bad it isn't springtime, I could be buying pretty pastel colored scandals, isn't it weird, it's not even Christmas yet, but I'm wishing for spring."  
"Christmas will be here in just a few weeks." Harry reminded her. He wasn't really interested in Katrina's toe-socks, boots, or the various lip glosses, shirts, skirts, and gloves she was buying but he was pleased to see her so happy.  
"Let's get out of here." Ron whispered to Hermione. She nodded and they left. Harry didn't pay much attention to them. The idea of spending an afternoon alone in Hogsmeade with Katrina was very exciting, but he only hoped she wouldn't want to spend the whole time at clothing stores. But even if she wanted to, Harry knew that he really wouldn't mind too much.  
It was raining much harder when Harry and Katrina finally left the clothing store and hour later. They walked close together for warmth on the sidewalk under the hatched roofs of the down town stores.   
"Brrrrrr." Katrina said, shivering. "It's so cold here."   
Harry felt himself shiver, but not from cold when she slipped her gloved hand inside his bare one. She stood so close to him, Harry could almost make out the sound of her breathing. With Harry's robe sleeves being as long as they were, they covered their hands, and Harry didn't worry about anybody seeing them holding hands.   
Katrina insisted on buying Harry a steamy bowl of soup inside a cute little cafe. They were lucky enough to find a table right by a toasty fire place that was by itself. The cafe was very busy, but they had a very private table.   
While they were waiting for their soup, Katrina scooted her chair very close to Harry, and playfully kicked him under the table. When Harry tried to kick her back, he missed and hit his foot on the leg of the big stone table. When he cursed under his breathe, she laughed, and played with a strand of his shaggy hair that fell by his ears. His whole body went numb as felt the softness of her fingers brush up against the back of his ear.   
When there soup came, Harry silently cursed the waitress because when she came to the table, it startled Katrina and she stopped playing with his hair. The waitress ignored them, and made a comment hinting that they remember to tip generously.  
After a few spoonfuls, Katrina sighed, and looked Harry in the eyes and said, "Harry, there's something I have to speak with you about."  
"Sure." said Harry. "What is it?"  
(After the wonderful afternoon they'd spent together, Harry couldn't help but hope that she was going to tell him that she had broken up with Percy and wanted to be with him!)  
"Harry, I can't let you play Quiditch anymore." she said to him sadly.  
"What?!" exclaimed Harry, shocked and a bit disgusted, he scooted away from her. "What do you mean?"  
"Harry, please keep your voice down." she whispered, and Harry noticed that a few people were starring at them. "I'm really worried about you, I'm really scared. There's been two accidents now, and I don't think that's a coincidence."  
"I know things look really bad, Katrina, but I am a good player and I can take care of myself." answered Harry.  
"I know you are, but I don't think you can handle this. Someone is defiantly attacking the players, and you're bound to be next!"  
"What do think I'd be next?" asked Harry.  
"Oh, don't be stupid." she hissed at him, looking very annoyed. "Harry, you know you're famous, I know you don't want all that attention but everybody always fusses over you. And you have a lot of f enemies, a lot of people blame you for the destruction of a certain Dark Lord. Now that he's back, his supports are bound to get even."  
"They have already tried." Harry said. "And I survived. If anybody tries to get me while I'm on my broom that would be a mistake because I would be able to out-maneuver any attack."  
"Harry," she whispered in a loving tender voice. "Harry, I don't want you to be hurt. Your, well, your, um, your a really special person to me and I lo- and I don't want you to be hurt."  
"I'll be fine." Harry said, understanding her concern was only because she loved him (but was too stupid to break up with Percy). He took her hand in his and said, "Don't worry.", noticing the tears in her eyes.   
"You understand where I'm coming from and you don't hate me, do you?" she asked.  
Harry shook his head, and placed his hand on her face. "Shhhh." he said to her. "I could never hate you. Don't be silly. You know how I feel. I've told you a thousand times."  
"That's good because I talked to my uncle today and I convinced him to end Quiditch." she said.  
"You what?" cried Harry in outrage. His placed his hands on the table, he was clenching them into fists out of anger.  
"I told my uncle what I told you, and I convinced him to end Quiditch for the rest of the year so that all of the students would be safe. He was going to continue on with the games, but I convinced him not to. After all, the students safety is very important."  
"You did what?" Harry asked. "You mean to tell me you went to Dumbledore and talked him into canceling all the Quiditch games?!?!?!?"  
"Yes" she whispered. "I suppose that you hate me now?"  
"Katrina! You know how important Quiditch is to me! You know how much I love it and how much I didn't want it to be cancelled! How could you do something like this?" he cried.  
"Harry!" she begged. "Please please keep your voice down, the people are starring at us!"  
"Let them stare!" he yelled. "Katrina, why did you do this?"  
"Harry, I did it because I love you, even if you are acting like a stupid jerk!" she said crying frantically, tears running down her face, smearing her make up. "I love you so much and I was so scared that something would happen to you. I don't know what I'd if something happened to you!"  
"Cry on Percy's shoulder at my funeral!" he hissed. "And don't even talk about love to me! If you really loved me , you'd leave Percy!"  
"But I can't leave Percy. I really care about him. I love him too. Don't you understand that! If I left Percy it would break his heart, and I don't know what he'd do! But you are so much stronger than Percy is, I think you could handle a broken heart."  
"Didn't you even think about talking to me before you convinced Dumbledore this?" asked Harry, even angrier.  
"No, because I knew you do this!" she said. "I knew you'd yell at me!"  
"Then maybe you probably shouldn't have done it if you knew I'd be mad!" Harry spat at her.  
"well, I thought I'd be better off having you mad at me than having you dead, but maybe I was wrong!" she said. She stood up from the table, pulled a some money out of her purse and threw it on the table, and ran out of the cafe leaving her shopping bangs behind. Out the window, Harry could see her running through the streets as fast as she could run, she turned once and looked back, and even though she was so far away, Harry could tell that she was crying harder than it was raining, and over the sounds of thunder, he could almost hear her sob.   
Too angry to chase after her, he stayed at his chair. For the moment, he was too mad at her to care where or not she was going.  
Harry at there for an hour and a half until the waitress asked him to leave. Harry, already quite cross, stormed out of the cafe without giving her a tip, much to the disgust of the waitress. He brought her shopping bag with him, as mad as he was, he didn't want to leave her things behind. When he found Hermione, he'd make her give them back.  
Ron and Hermione were wearing carefree grins when they saw Harry.   
"Where's she at?" asked Ron, noticing him holding the shopping bag.   
Harry quickly told them the whole story of his fight with Katrina and what she had done.   
Ron was equally furious, but Hermione sighed. "You guys put too much importance on Quiditch. You'd think your friends would be more important than a silly game."  
But the boys just ignored her. Too depressed to enjoy Hogsmeade, they headed back to Hogwarts.  
  
It was storming even harder than night at dinner. All of the students who had been at Hogsmeade were back in the Great Hall. Harry and his friends looked around but they did not see any sign of Katrina anywhere that they looked. Harry, feeling very uneasy, asked tons of students if they had seen her, but nobody had.  
By the time all of the Gryfindors had gone to bed, and there was no sign of Katrina, Harry was in a panic. "She must be at Hogsmeade!" he exclaimed. "She must not have made it back.!"  
"She will be okay, don't worry about her, Harry." said Ron.  
"yeah, she will make it back alright, it's night like she's defenseless or a stupid child or anything like that." said Hermione.  
Harry just shoke his head.  
Hermione and Ron were silent as they sat in the armchairs by the fire watching Harry pace the floor for another hour. They waited and waited but they saw no sign of Katrina.   
"Could she be out with Percy again?" asked Harry, more to himself than his friends. "no, she couldn't be. Percy is sick."  
Suddenly, Harry grapped his scar and winced in pain. He felt as if it was on fire. Then he knew what was going on.  
"She's in trouble." he said. "Something bad is happening" Harry said, as he fell to the floor clutching his scar.  
"Harry!" Ron and Hermione cried, coming toward him. There faces were very pale. They'd never seen Harry have a spasm like this before.   
"She's in danger!" Harry said, barely getting the words out. "She's being attacked. I've got to save her!"  
He reached into his pocket, and pulled out his wand. He tried to crawl to the Portrait Hoe because he was too weak to walk, but the pain of his scar was so intense that he couldn't even do that. Harry had never felt anything like this before, even the following year when Voldemort had put him under the Crustaceous Curse he had never felt such pain. The only thing that was keeping Harry from passing out was pure will and pure love. He was running on adrenalin. He was fighting, barely holding on, because he had to, for Katrina's life.  
Finally, after a few moments that seemed like lifetimes, the pain left as quick as it came, Harry lay on the floor face down breathing very hard.   
"Are you okay?" Hermione asked, placing her hand on his shoulder as he panted.  
Harry stood up. He looked at his friends, still hyperventilating. "We've got to go to Hogsmeade. We've got to find her."  
"But we can't go to Hogsmeade at this time of night!" exclaimed Hermione.  
"We'll take the secret passage, the one that I found with the Maurder's Map." said Harry. "Go, get my Cloak, Ron. It will cover all three of us."  
"We'll get into so much trouble if we are caught! We should tell Dumbledore that she's missing! The school needs to know! He's her niece, for crying out loud! They can be the ones to help her, after all, what could we do for her!"  
"There's no time for that." said Ron as he came back with the cloak. "Did you see Harry when those pains came over him. She's in serious trouble and we can't waste time waking up Dumbledore. We have to go now."   
"I don't know if this is a good idea." said Hermione.  
Oh c'mon!" yelled Harry. "what's more important to you, Hermione, getting into trouble, or the life of your friend?"  
At that Hermione walked out the Portrait Hole and ran toward the secret passage way forcing the boys to follow behind her.  
"It's not that I'm so worried about House Points or anything like that!" Hermione called to them as they were running frantically toward Hogsmeade. "I don't care about getting in trouble when it comes to the safety of my friends, but I still think we should have got an adult to help us. I saw you, Harry, and I know things are gonna be bad. Really bad."  
Harry and Ron didn't reply to her. The just kept running. The three of them had never ran so fast in there entire lives and would probably never run so fast again.  
The rain in the village was so hard and so thick that Harry could even see his own hands.  
"How are we supposed to see anything in this bloody rain!" shouted Ron.  
"I can't see anything out of my wet glasses!" yelled Harry. "Quick, Hermione, do that spell that replies water!"   
Hermione pointed her wand at Harry's glasses and said an incantation.   
"Thanks, that's much better." said Harry. "We're going to have to split up to find her. Send red sparks in the air if you get into trouble, green sparks if you find her!" said Harry.  
"Just like our First Year when we went into the Forest with Hagrid." said Hermione, as they parted.   
Harry had a feeling that he knew where she would be, but the pounding rain made it hard to figure out how to get there. About the length of a Quiditch field from the Shrieking Shack was a large hooked tree that looked like the one in the Weasley's yard. Harry remembered how she liked to jump out of high trees, and say a spell that would slow her down just enough that she would always land harmlessly on her feet. For some reason, Harry had a feeling that she was there tonight.   
His legs aching, he ran all the way to the tree, and saw a lone figure lying on the ground by the trunk. The limp body of a woman wearing a red sweater, and black pants with stars and black boots. It was Katrina.  
Harry fell to the muddy ground and threw his arms around her. "Katrina!" he shouted. "Katrina! Answer me!" he yelled, shaking her vigorously. She did not answer.  
"Lumnos!" Harry said, but the light from his wand could barely pierce the darkness of the night. He sent up green stars to let Hermione and Ron know that he had found her.   
Her body was as cold as ice, and wet to the bone. Harry toke off his robes and threw them around her, wrapping her up tight like a baby in a blanket,. He threw her body into this lap, holding her very tightly trying to warm her with his body heat. She was so cold and so wet. Her skin was very pale, a pale pale pale blue around her lips. She was unconscious, her hair sticking to her face, which was smeared with mud.   
"Katrina? Can you hear me, darling?" he called to her. "Katrina, love, answer me."  
But she didn't. And she wasn't breathing. Harry put two fingers on the back of her neck to check for a pulse. There wasn't one.  
"Katrina." he sobbed. "I am so sorry. I never meant any of those mean things I said to you. I'm sorry for yelling at you, I know you were just trying to be protective of me, and that you only cared about my safety. I am such a jerk, and I am so sorry for yelling at you. Just wake up, Katrina. Please, I beg you, wake up."  
There was no response. No breathing, no movement, no heart beat.  
"Katrina." he whispered again. "I love you, please don't leave me. I know that I have only known you for such a short amount of time but I am in love with you. You're everything I could ever dream of, please don't leave me."  
Then Harry got very angry and looked at the sky and cursed.  
"Damn you!" he yelled. "Why do you have to do this to me! You let my parents be murdered! You let my godfather be framed for something he didn't do! You let Cedric and Cho die before my eyes! And now you take her! Damn you! You can't do this to me, not again! Don't do this to me again! You can't have her! Not her! I swear, I'll do anything, I'll never play Quiditch again! This is all my fault!" he cried, sobbing and screaming at the same time. "If I hadn't got into that fight with her over Quiditch she would not have ran away, and she would not have been attacked!"  
"Katrina," Harry begged. "Please, don't die, I love you, please don't die."  
Knowing that the worst was here, he leaned toward her cold cold mouth and kissed her with all the passion that he had inside him.  
"Katrina." he whispered as he stroked her long long hair. "Katrina,."  
Then he felt something. A pulse! His mind was spinning! She wasn't dead! There was a pulse. But she wasn't breathing!   
Harry put his lips to hers again, breathing life into cold body. By the time Hermione and Ron got to Harry, she was breathing on her own, but she was still very cold and unconscious.  
"Is she---?" asked Ron, awkwardly.   
"No," said Harry stubbornly. "But she is very very close. When I found her, she had no pulse and wasn't breathing .I think having my robes around her warmed her enough just to make a bit of difference."  
"What happened here?" asked Hermione.   
"I don't know but you must give me your robes." commanded Harry, and he wrapped them around her. "It may be a cold wet night, but she needs them more than we do."  
Ron put his hand to her face. "She's so cold. She's half frozen."  
"We've got to get her someplace warm as soon as possible." said Hermione. "Should we go to the Castle or someplace in the village?"  
"Let's get her to the Hospital Wing." said Harry standing up, draping Katrina's body around him. "I can carry her, she's very light. But we have go to hurry, she's tough alright, but I don't know how long she can hold on."  
*************************************************************************Author's Note:   
Well, that's the end of Chapter 20. (exhales) Wow! That was one heck of a chapter! That was like a rollarcoaster ride! So much stuff happened! It was quite an experience writing that chapter and I bet it was an experience to read it. The next chapter should be much much shorter so it will hopefully be up soon. At least, I hope! lol! You can never be too sure with me! So, what are you thinking about this story right now! I know you have got to have some thoughts! Let me know what's going thru your head in the guest book! I love hearing from you guys! 


	22. The Recovery

Chapter 21  
  
Harry would never remember very much about his journey back from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. Strangely, there was nobody in the halls as they went straight to the Hospital Wing. But Harry would never forget what he saw when he entered the Hospital Wing, or rather, who he saw. Professor Snape was sitting at a bed drinking a potion. Apparently, he had a bit of a cold and had come to the Hospital Wing for a bit of relief. When he saw Harry burst in with Katrina's limp body hanging from his arms, a cruel smile twisted across his face.   
"Oh good heavens!" exclaimed Madame Pompey, clutching her chest. "What has happened to the girl?"  
"She was attacked just outside of Hogsmeade." said Harry.  
The nurse just starred at Katrina dumbstruck. "I must tell Dumbledore! Yes, that's what I'll do! The Headmaster said he wanted to be warned immediately if something like this happened!"   
Madame Pompey ran run from the room and into the hall to find Dumbledore. She was in such a shock that she must have forgotten she was the nurse and obligated to provide medical treatment.  
Hermione didn't forget. "Hey, get back here and take care of her! Send one of us to get Dumbledore!" she yelled, but the nurse was already gone.  
Harry gently layed Katrina down on one of the hospital beds.   
"So, what have we here?" said Snape.  
"What does it look like?" Harry snapped. He was too stressed out to worry about Snape being a professor or not. He didn't care. All his thoughts were with Katrina. "She was attacked by someone or something."  
"In Hogsmeade?" asked Snape, still smiling maliciously. "But students were supposed to be back from Hogsmeade hours ago. Surely, you would have reported this hours ago when it happened."  
"Everybody was back in Hogwarts when it happened. She was still in Hogsmeade." said Harry. "We had an argument and she ran off because she was upset."  
"An argument? Naturally, I assume that you were in the wrong, Potter, but that is besides the point now. The point is, what were you doing in Hogsmeade when you were supposed to be back in the castle?"  
"Oh, for God's sake!" Hermione yelled out in anger, "Isn't there more important things for you to being worrying about than trying to get Harry in trouble! Hello?!?! Your daughter is unconscious! She's been attacked! When Harry found her, she had no pulse and she wasn't breathing!"  
Snape got a funny look on his face. "Did you just say my daughter?"  
They nodded.  
"Well, that's what she is." said Ron. "Isn't she?"  
"You think that Katrina Figg is my daughter?" said Snape, who was actually laughing. "You think that I'm her father? I don't know how even a bunch of dunder heads like you could even get that idea!"  
"Soooooo." said Ron. "Your not the father?"  
"Most certainly not." said Snape. "Katrina's father a person of this earth for a long long time."  
Just then, Dumbledore burst through the door. "Honestly, Poppy, I don't know why you left her in this situation. She needs your care." said the Head Master. "One of the children could have came to get me, I trust them in an emergency like this to find me, especially Harry. Al though, I doubt Harry would leave her side."  
Snape scowled at this.   
"She is in a coma." said Madame Pompey.   
"Well, I could have told you that." Ron muttered.   
"And she is very weak, incredibly weak. What happened, Harry?"  
Harry shook his head. "We don't know. We just found her like this. Except she was not breathing or had a pulse."   
"They went to Hogsmeade without permission, Headmaster." announced Snape.  
"To rescue my niece who was in Hogsmeade without permission." said Dumbledore. "Continue, Harry."  
"That's it." Harry said shaking his head. "We basically just found her and brought her here. We have no clue what attacked her."  
"I'll notify the family." said Dumbledore. "Certainly, they will want to be here with her. And I'm sure a particular Mr. Weasley will want to be here."  
"Is she going to alright?" asked Harry.  
"Yes, she will be fine." said Madame Pompey. "In time" she quickly added. "In time she shall get stronger. But she's very very weak. She must have bit near death when you found her, because she is very close to it now."  
Harry shuddered. What would have happened if he hadn't looked for her?  
*************************************************************************  
  
Percy was furious when he got there. He was also sneezing and coughing, but everyone tried to ignore that. "I don't know how this could happen!" Percy exclaimed. "It's all my fault, all my fault, I should have been there with her to protect her."  
"You could've done anything against whoever attacked her." said Harry. "I could feel it through my scar. It was too powerful."  
"Well, you should have never let her out of your sight!" Percy spat at them. "And you certainly should have never yelled at her! If it wasn't for you, she'd have been safe at Hogwarts, and not roaming around, lost in the village, in the middle of the night, in a bloody rain storm!"  
"Percy, she's not an idiot, I am sure she wasn't lost." Hermione demanded.  
"Yeah, so don't yell at Harry!" said Ron.   
Percy continued to ramble on and on. Harry tired to his best to ignore him, but he was plaque with a feeling of guilt. Harry couldn't help but feel like he was responsible.   
The Parkerlys and Katrina's grandmother arrived late that morning. Her cousins were especially upset to see Katrina hurt.   
"She will be okay in a couple of says." Madame Pompey kept telling them. "She's in a coma now, but we expect her to be out of it in a few days. She'll be alright, she is just very weak."  
Harry wasn't so sure.   
**********************************************************************  
It was a good thing that Katrina was unconscious, and it was a good thing that Katrina's family was at Hogwarts and not at their homes. The following night, Dumbledore was alerted that Death Eaters showed up at Katrina's old home in America, and Abrella Figg's house. When they saw that nobody was home, the Death Eaters went to their neighbors, who happened to be Muggles, demanding to know where Katrina Figg was. Some of the American Muggles were killed. Luckily, the ones on Privet Drive were not. Harry was glad that the Death Eaters didn't show up at the Dursley's. If they knew that was the home of Harry Potter, who happened to be a neighbor and friend of Katrina, the Dursley's would be dead meat. Harry may not like his relatives very much, but they were the only family that he had, and Harry wouldn't want anything bad to happen to anyone, and that included the Dursley's.   
Dumbledore had told them that a crew of Ministry workers had to erase the memories of many Muggles and policeman, and the Ministry had a tough night of work.   
The homes of Katrina's relatives had been badly damaged, and Dumbledore said it wasn't safe for them to return, so he made arrangements for Katrina's family to live in the castle with them where they would be safe.   
While Dumbledore was telling them this, he noticed Hermione scratching her head. "Why would the Death Eaters be looking for Katrina?" she muttered. "Why would they look for her in her families homes? They must know that she is at Hogwarts, since she's being attacked and all? If she's so important to them, you'd think they take the time to figure out what school she was attending."  
Katrina had been changed out of the clothes she had been wearing during the attack, and her original outfit was sitting crumbled up in a pile on an armchair. Harry noticed the shirt. "The neck is ripped." he said to himself.  
Then Harry looked at Katrina. "Her necklace is gone again."  
Harry looked at the nurse. "Was she wearing any jewelry?" asked Harry. "A necklace?"   
After describing the necklace in the greatest detail that Harry could, she just shook her head.   
"No necklaces." she said. "Was it important?"   
Harry just shook his head.  
************************************************************************  
One week after the attack, Katrina came out of her coma. Everyone was overjoyed, and none more than Percy, who practically pounced on her with a peck on the lips and a hug the moment her eyes opened. Everyone asked a lot of questions about the attack, and Katrina's condition.  
"I was upset after the fight I had with Harry." she told them. "So, I walked around the village in the rain. When it began to storm really bad that night, I was trying to find shelter, because I didn't want to go back to the castle because I did not want to face Harry. It was dark, and late, and cold, and I was walking when all of a sudden I felt someone grab hold of my hair, and pull me backwards. I felt them rip my shirt as the tore my necklace from my neck, and the cold steel blade of a knife against throat. I was pushed down in the mud, and I thought for sure they were going to "Avada Kedarva" me, but they didn't. They said something else instead, and I could feel all my powers draining from me, as everything got really dark."  
"What did your attacker look like? did you see them?" asked Dumbledore.  
"The same person as before. They were in the long black cloak." Katrina said. \"Don't worry about it, darling." Percy cooed at her like she was a newborn infant. "I am here now, and I will make sure you are safe, I will take care of you It's too bad that I was not there. I could have taken care of this guy, I would have protected you."  
  
"Oh would you shut the hell up!" Katrina yelled, shoving Percy's arms off of her. He fell backwards off the bed, and a landed in a pile on the floor. "Ow." he said. "Whatcha do that for?"  
  
Katrina sighed in anger. "Don't you understand, you idiot, that I was attacked! The damn coward snuck up on me! He grapped me by the freaking hair!"  
  
"Katrina, calm down. Remember your manners." said Abrella Figg.   
"Well, it's true!" she exclaimed. "but it's not ever going to happen again! I'm gonna take care of myself. I am not going to be so defenseless anymore!"  
************************************************************************  
A few days after she awoke from her coma, Katrina was released from the Hospital Wing.   
"Harry," she said to him in private. "I'm sorry about going to my uncle the way that I did. I know that I should have spoken with you first."  
"No," said Harry. "I should not have yelled at you the way that I did. I'm the one who should be sorry. I was a real jerk. I should have understood you were only trying to look out for me."  
"Well, I should have understood how important Quiditch is to you." said Katrina.  
"How about we agree that we are both idiots?" offered Harry.  
"Deal." said Katrina. "So, where still friends?"  
"Friends." said Harry. "Any chance we could be something more?"  
"Oh you never know." said Katrina. "You never know what could happen."  
AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO GET THIS WRITTEN. I HAD A REALLY BAD CASE OF WRITER'S BLOCK. I KNOW THIS WAS KIND OF A BORING CHAPTER AND I PROMISE THAT NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE VERY INTRESTING. SOMETHING REALLY BIG IS GONNA HAPPEN!  
  
-AMANDA 


	23. Christmas Morning

Chapter 22  
  
Christmas Morning  
  
Author's Note:  
  
When we last left off, Katrina was just released from the Hospital Wing. Harry had found her in Hogsmeade in a come and badly attacked and brought her to the Hosiptal Wing. When she was questioned, she reported that her attacker was probably the same person as last time. Harry discovered that her necklace had been stolen. Dumbledroe called in Percy, and Katrina's relatives to come be with her. While the relatives were at Hogwarts, Death Eaters came to Mrs. Figg's house, and the American relatives looking for Katrina. When they saw no relatives and no Katrina, they attacked muggles, and their homes. Dumbledore decided that it was best for Katrina's family to stay at Hogwarts untill repairs could be made, and Dumbledore was sure they would be safe.  
  
And now, on with the story! :-   
  
-Amanda   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
As overjoyed as Harry was that Katrina was back from the Hosipital Wing, he kind of wished she was back there. Ofcourse, Harry cared very deeply about Katrina and loved having her near him and would never ever wish harm upon her. But ever since she was released, Percy took it upon himself to protect Katrina. Whenever he was not working, or when Katrina did have classes, he was there. Dumbledore allowed him to stay at Hogwarts as much as he wanted, and even enter the Gryiindor common room. He was always there at meal times, and often walking with her between classes. Harry found it very hard to watch Percy fuss over her, carerssing her arms so gently, and patting her shoulders like he wanted to make sure she was really there. Harry noticed that Percy had a farway dreamy look in his eyes that was not flattering. Most of the time, Percy looked like he was about to throw up. Ron mentioned this to Harry one evening at dinner, and declared that everytime he spook to Percy he seemed very nervous and precouicpied.  
  
Percy begged and begged Katrina to go to the Burrow with him for Christmas, but she kept on refusing. "My family is going to be here, and it's my forst Hogwarts Christmas and I don't want to miss it!" she told him. "Besides, all my friends are here, and I don't want to be away from them!"  
  
As Christmas quickly approached, Harry realized that he hadn't bought Katrina a gift. There was no time to go to Hogsmeade, so Harry would have to order something to Owl Order. He was not pleased with that idea. He wanted to get her something really special. She still hadn't got her necklace back, and Harry was relived that it was gone. Maybe now the attacks on her would end. Harry considered buying her a pretty necklace, but was afraid she wouldn't like it. Instead, he decided on a silver charm braclet. The one that he picked out was much more that he usually spent on Hermione or Ron, but then again, he wasn't in love with Ron or Hermione, and he wanted to get Katrina something really special, or atleast something that was better than Percy's gift.   
  
Christmas morning, Ron and Harry were awaken by Dobby jumping around on their beds. He presented them with their Christmas gifts, which were socks. Dobby was so loud that he woke up the Weasleys and Katrina and Hermione. They all decided to hang out in the Common Room and open their gifts together. They were soon joined by Katrina's cousions and Percy Weasley.  
  
From Herione, Harry received a book about famous wizzard pets throught out history. Hermione said she thought he might like it since there was a painting of an owl that looked just like Hedwig on the front cover.   
  
From Ron, he recived a large box of Every Flavor Beans and a Choclate Frog.  
  
Fred and George gave him a box full of samples of their new joke candies. The candies include Pimple Pops, suckers that make your face break out in acne (great to give your enemies they had told him) Body Oder Beans (jelly beans that make you stink, but the only people who can smell it are people who you want to stay from away from you) and Super Sour Spit Balls, candies so sour that you swallow your otngue and grow a new one wiith seconds of eating them. Harry wasnn't so sure that he wanted to try any of those.   
  
From Ginny, he received a small statuettite of a Firebolt that she had made out of clay.  
  
From Mrs. Wealsley, he recived the usual home made sweater and baked goods.  
  
Strangely enough, he did not recive anything from Sirus. Harry wondered what might have happened to him. The last he knew, he was hiding out in Hogsmeade.  
  
But Harry quickly forgot about Sirus when he unwrapped Katrina's gift. She had somehow made him a cd of herself singing and playing guitar. The note said that these were all songs she had written herself. Since Katrina knew he did not have anything to play it on, she included a Discman. Harry was touched, and thought it was a wonderful gift. Percy gave him a venmous look.   
  
  
  
"Hey look!" exclaimed Katrina. "There's a Poinsentia over by the fireplace. It's got a card on it. It must be a gift for somebody."  
  
Ginny went over and picked it up. She frowned when she read the card. "Oh, I thought it might be from Neville. But it's for you, Hermione. It's From Viktor Krum."  
  
Hermione wore a funny expression when she read the card. Ron crossed his arms and made a "Hrumph!" sound.   
  
"Oooooo, so what did you get him? asked Katrina.  
  
"Yeah." said Ron. "What did you get dear old Vicky poo?"  
  
Hermione ignored Ron. "I didn't get him anything. We broke up."  
  
Ginny and Katrina gasped. "You broke up! Why?" exclaimed Ginny.  
  
"We thought it was all for the best." said Hermione. "We never got to see each other anyway. But we are still going to be pen pals."   
  
"Oh, that's so romantic." said Ginny.  
  
"Yeah, so romantic. He still must care about you." said Katrina.   
  
Harry noticed Katrina has not opened any of her presents. Harry pointed this out to her. "Oh, I was just happy watching everyone else," she said. "But I will open them now since you mentioned it, Harry."  
  
"Open mine last!" Percy cried, snatching away the carefully wrapped box.  
  
Katrina, by far, had the bigest stack. She recived lots of clothing and cds from her American relatives, and many books from her grandmother. There were even some from Dumbledore, which looked like spellbooks. Harry boticed their was one about ancient magical relics and another about defence spells. Harry was shocked to see Snape had even sent her a large box of candies. From the students, she received a lot of candy, some hand made gifts, and various other small trinkets. She was very excited about reciveing two Dixie Chicks cds.   
  
"Dixie Chicks?" asked Ron. "What the bloddy hell is that?"  
  
"An American country music band. There really talented. They are my favorites." said Katrina.  
  
"I thought the Monsters of Merlin was your favorite?" asked Percy.  
  
"Well, second favorite," she said grinning.  
  
  
  
Next came Harry's big moment. She was opening his gift. Harry had spent at least an hour wrapping the box in beauitful silver paper, and he had recruited Ginny, who he had discovered was very talented at artsy sort of things, arrange the big silver and red ribbons and bows. The box sure looked beautiful but when Katrina saw the silver charm braclet inside, Harry weas happy to hear her gasp.  
  
"Oh Harry! It's goregous!" she squealed, admiring her new peice of jewlery from every angle. "Oh, it's too much! You shouldn't have! You shouldn't have! Oh, look at the little charms!"  
  
There were many charms that Harry had picked out himself. There was an American and a Brittish flag to represent both countries she loved, a palm tree to represent her happy home in Flordia, a guitar that looked just like the one she loved so much, a lion to represnt Gryfindor, a wizzard cap, a wand, an open book because she loved to read, a cat, and a small beautiful owl that looked nothing like Dite, her ugly pet bird.   
  
"It's perfect, Harry! Thank you! I love it!" she said, kissing him on the cheek in front of everyone (and Percy.) This made Harry feel a little bit uncomfortible, and he saw Percy's face burn in a jealous rage. For a moment, he was afraid Percy might hex him, but the expression in Katrina's eyes when she slipped on the braclet made everything worth it.   
  
Percy cleared his throat. "Open my gift now, love." he said.   
  
As she carefully unwrapped the box, Harry watched in horror as Percy got down on his knees in front of her as she opened the box to expose a breathtaking diamond ring.  
  
  
  
"Katrina," said Percy. "Will you marry me?"   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
Well, what do you think about this? I would lave to hear your comments!   
  
What should Katrina say? What should Harry do? What would you like to see happen in the next chapter? Did anybody guess Percy would propose?   
  
|I am going to let you know that this Christmas will be full of events and the next chapter is called "Christmas Day, Christmas Night".   
  
-Amanda 


	24. Christmas Day, Christmas Night

Chapter 23  
  
Christmas Day, Christmas Night  
  
Author's Note:  
  
Sorry the spells names are spelled wrong. I'm too lazy to look them up.  
  
-Amanda  
  
Harry's insides froze as he looked on the face of the girl he loved so insanely. Percy had just asked her to marry him! How could Percy do something like that? Harry looked on at the perfect diamond ring. Percy must have thought Katrina has extremely expensive taste. Harry wondered where Percy got the money. Did he spend all of his earning as a Ministry official and Dumbledore's assistant?  
  
Then Harry saw Katrina's face and his fears were resolved. Her face was a shade of purple Harry had never seen before. She looked as if she had been petrified.  
  
"PERCY!" she shouted, springing up, grabbing her startled boyfriend's hand and dragging him toward the Portrait Hole. "You and I need to have a talk."  
  
  
  
When the two of them were gone, everyone around him exploded into chatter.   
  
"Oh my Gosh!" cried Ginny. "She could be my sister-in-law! Oh, what will Mum say!"  
  
"Your mother won't have a chance to say anything." said Neville.   
  
Harry spun his head around and noticed for the first time that Neville was there.   
  
"What do you mean?" he asked Neville.  
  
"She's going to say no of course." he told them. "She likes Percy very much but  
  
she doesn't want to marry him! She's not ready for something like that! Who would be at 16 year years old!"  
  
Harry knew there was wisdom in Neville's words, but the last place he wanted to hear wisdom from was the lips of Neville Longbottom.   
  
Neither Katrina nor Percy returned to the Common Room before lunch. The meal was a happy affair for everyone but Harry. Wizard's crackers were passed around, and the Hall was decorated with floating icicles. Everyone around him was chattering and laughing. They did not seem to recall the scene they had witnessed earlier. After lunch everyone went outside to have a snowball fight. Harry decided to go to the Owlery to write a letter to Sirus in private.   
  
But Harry never got a chance to write that letter. When he entered the Owlery, sitting hunched over in a corner, crying, was Katrina.   
  
Harry tried to leave thinking she would want the privacy that he had come there for, but when she saw him, she threw her arms around Harry before he could realize what she was doing. It was not an embrace of passion. No, it was an embrace of a miserable person seeking comfort and compassion. As she cried on his shoulders, Harry had no idea what to do.  
  
"He broke up with me." she told him in between sobs.   
  
"He what?" asked Harry, totally awestruck. "Percy Weasley broke up with you!"  
  
She nodded. Her eyes were puffy, and her nose was running. She looked like she had the stomach flu.  
  
"He broke up with me because I told him no! Oh, Harry! What was he thinking! Asking me to marry him! Now he may be out of school and have a good job and that's all fine and swell, but I'm only 16 years old! I have no desire to marry! And how the hell would he expect me to do that! I'm still going to Hogwarts! I've got two more years left!"   
  
"I don't think Percy really was thinking things through." Harry said.  
  
"Oh no! Of course he wasn't! Percy does stuff like this all the time! He never thinks things through! He just jumps right into things! He's so ambitious. Yeah, that can be a good quality, but a little goes a long way and Percy has got damn too much of it! He is always looking for the next big thing! He can never ever leave well enough alone. When I told him that I simple was not ready for this, he accused me of not loving him! He said that if I was not ready to start a new life, then he would go find somebody who would. Maybe he thinks if he has a wife, it will make him look like a family man, and that would help him out at the Ministry! I don't know what he thinks, but this whole thing is stupid."   
  
Harry still didn't know what to say but he was happy to see that she was no longer crying.   
  
"Oh, Harry! Thank you! I always feel so much better after I talk to you!" she said, kissing him on the cheek. She got up to leave, but Harry grapped her hand and refused to let go.  
  
"Tell me something, Katrina." he demanded. "Be honest. Do you love him?"  
  
"Well, no I never loved him. Oh, But I liked him very much. I won't deny that I was attracted to him. There are many great things about Percy Weasley, but no, we were not in love."  
  
Harry nodded. He thought he understood. Maybe it was like him and Cho Chang. He never loved her, he was just attracted to her. A crush. That's probably what it was for Katrina and Percy. Then he stopped thinking about Cho. It hurt too badly.   
  
"I'll see you later, Harry." she said winking at him. Harry watched as she headed towards Drew Fordson's office. "I'm going to go visit with Drew. That's where my cousins are right now. I think Arizona is here too, although I haven't seen him today. It's too bad Lu is missing. Otherwise we could all be together for Christmas!"  
  
Harry gave no thought to the fate of Lu Willow as he went outside to join his friends in the snow ball fight.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Harry awoke that night with his scar feeling like it would tear apart, and the painful sounds of a woman's voice screaming in his ears. Was he dreaming?  
  
He looked over and saw Neville and Ron awake, starring at each horror struck.   
  
"Where is that coming from?" he asked them.  
  
"Dunno." said Ron shaking his head. "We just woke up."  
  
"It's coming from the Common Room!" Harry yelled. "Hurry! We've got to go help her!"  
  
"I don't think that's such a good idea. There something very strange going on around here!" shouted Neville.  
  
But Harry was already halfway there, and Neville and Ron dashed behind him.  
  
There, he saw Ginny, Hermione, Fred and George (the only occupants of Gryfindor Tower besides himself, Neville, Ron and Katrina) stuck to the back wall. They were several inches from the ground. They looked like they were glued there. There faces were stuck in a look of pure terror as they watched a man in a long black robe wearing a dark veil fighting Katrina in a Wizard's Duel.  
  
Katrina noticed Ron and Neville and then she screamed at them to run. But it was no use, with a wave of the cloaked wizard's wands they were bound to the wall like the rest. Only Harry and Katrina were free to fight.  
  
Katrina's opponent seemed to be the same one that she had been attacked by before, but this opponent was no fighting very clumsily and Harry knew he was not the same one. Harry rushed to help Katrina, but the wizard yelled "Exdeperduilus" and his wand flew from his hands.   
  
"Katrina! Run! Get Dumbledore! I'll fight him!" Harry shouted. He knew Katrina was not very strong and could not take very good care of herself. And besides, what chance would a girl stand who wearing pink fuzzy bunny slippers!  
  
Katrina had a strange look on her face when she realized Harry was there. She pointed her wand at Ron and Hermione "For God's sake! Get Harry out of here!"  
  
Hermione and Ron were released from their invisible bind, but they stood their frozen to the spot.  
  
The wizard in the robes pointed his wand at Harry and yelled "Crucius!"   
  
The devasting wave of pain hit Harry hard. His scar never burned so bad. He felt sure that he was going to die. But then after only a moment, he felt the soft touch of a hand on his shoulders and the pain was gone. But he was still weak.  
  
"Katrina?" he whispered.   
  
But the Katrina Figg he looked up at (when did he fall to the floor?) was not the one he knew. She had a look of pure hatred on her face as she starred fearlessly at her attacker. A burning heat radiated off of her. And Harry looked at her and was reminded of the way Albus Dumbledore looked at Barty Crouch Jr. that day in his office. Harry remembered the way that the heat emitted from Dumbledore. Harry knew it must be genetic because it was very likely Katrina would burst into flames out of pure rage and hatred. Harry watched, half scared, half fascinated, as she performed a flawless Impructuis curse upon the attacker and forced him to remove his mask.   
  
Harry scar began to ache violently. Wherever Lord Voldemort was, he was furious. And Katrina's furry grew as the attacked revealed himself to be none other than Wormtail.   
  
"Tell me the truth, you disgusting parasite!" she hissed at him. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I was sent by my Lord to bring you to him!" said Wormtail, cowering. "He wants you with him! He needs you! He has been searching for you, trying to get near to you!"   
  
"Yes, I have felt his presence, but I don't desire to have anything to do with that, that, that, creature!" she spat. "And as for you, I know who you are, Peter Petigrew! I know you were the Secret Keeper for the Potters! I know you betrayed them to Voldemort! And then framed the innocent Sirus Black, killing the innocent Muggles, pretending to be dead, leaving Sirus to a fate worse that death! I know if it were not for you, this boy would not be an orphan!" she yelled at the top of her lungs pointing at Harry.  
  
Suddenly, Harry's scar erupted in pain. Voldemort had somehow heard Katrina. That stupid girl. Couldn't she see that he was in terrible pain??!?!? Why was she trying to anger him? No! It was not Voldemort who was dangerously angry! It was Katrina! It was Katrina's anger that was making his scar hurt so badly! No, it couldn't be! Not the pretty girl in the pink bunny slippers!   
  
But the pain multiplied into the thousands as Harry watched in absolute horror as Katrina performed the Avada Kedarva curse. Harry thought he might pass out as he watched the lifeless body of Peter Petigrew fall to the ground.   
  
Ron and Hermione were trembling. With a wave of her wand, the others were released from their bonds.   
  
"Wormtail was afraid you would keep him from his mission. He wanted to abduct me. Why he choose that fool to do the job, I will never be able to guess. That's why he put you up there, to keep you out of the way. He didn't want to hurt you, or me for that matter. He only wanted to kidnap me. And he knew it would do no good for me to have to witness my friends getting hurt. That was the only safe place for you to be." she told them.   
  
"But I'm afraid, I can't allow you to remember this. Well, nobody but Harry, anyway. Harry needs to understand."  
  
Then she performed a Memory Curse on everyone but Harry. They all headed back to bed, incredibly drowsy in such a deep haze that they were unable to see the dead body on the ground.   
  
It was only Harry and Katrina. He was still on the floor feeling too weak to get up.  
  
"Katrina." he whispered. "When you were angry, it made my scar hurt. Just like when Voldemort is angry. Katrina, were you being possessed by Voldemort?"  
  
  
  
"No, I have never been possessed by Voldemort." she told him sternly. Harry felt a wave of relief flood his body. If she had been possessed by Voldemort, maybe Voldemort was forcing Katrina to get close to him, so he could attack Harry.   
  
  
  
"The reason why your scar was hurting is because I am Voldermort's only daughter and heir."  
  
Author's Note:  
  
Well, how many of you saw that coming! can't wait to hear your comments, let me know if you saw that coming. The next chapter Katrina and Dumbledore will explain everything to Harry. 


	25. Time to Tell the Truth

Chapter 24  
  
Time to Tell The Truth  
  
Harry gasped. The air seemed to leave his already weak body. Perhaps he would never breathe again. Silent, he allowed her to lead him away from the body of Peter Petigrew, and into the cold and somber hallway. There seemed to be a hush about Hogwarts, and a chill ran down Harry's spine. It was like the castle knew that there had been murder done inside it's walls.  
  
NO! Harry's mind screamed. What Katrina did tonight was not murder, Petigrew had been trying to abduct her, to harm her, to harm Harry. It was self defense, and the defense of her friends. Although, there were other ways she could have protected herself than to kill Peter Petigrew. And Sirius?!?! What about him? Harry had dreamed, practically lived for the day that Wormtail would be caught and Sirius would be proved innocent, and then Harry could go to live with his beloved god father. But now, it was never to be. But Katrina hadn't done murder. No, murder was heartless killing without reason, and preventing yourself from being abducted was most definitely a reason. But she had done something else, something much worse.  
  
Harry noticed, that Katrina was leading him to the Hospital Wing by the hand. Normally, he would have been thrilled to be holding her, but now the thought made him want to vomit. She's the daughter, the only daughter or heir of Lord Voldermort. How could that be? Harry looked up into those green and silver eyes that he had adored so much and half expected the red snakelike slits of Voldemort to stare back at him.   
  
"Katrina" he called in a voice that was no more than a whisper. "Who are you, Katrina? Who are you really?"   
  
Ho noticed her hands were wet with nervous sweat and she was shaking. "I'm the same person you've always known, Harry. Now, you just know who my father is."  
  
  
  
"So, it's true?" he asked, as she pushed open the Hospital Wing door.   
  
She sighed. "Yes, it is true. An accident of birth. A twist of cruel fate, and human ambition. I am not really my father's daughter, nor my mothers. I am only myself."   
  
Harry was not in the mood for eloquent words. "Tell me the truth, damn you! Don't speak in puzzles or riddles like Dumbledore does. He knew who you are, you knew who you are, and you both lied to me! How could you lie to me!"  
  
At Harry's yells, Madame Pompey came running. "What is the matter? What is the matter?"   
  
"He's weak. There was an attack on me, but Harry was the one was injured. He'll be fine, he just needs a safe haven to go to, so that he can rest and regain his strength." Katrina explained. "You get my Uncle. He needs to be here."   
  
"But I must care for my patients!" Madame Pompey cried.   
  
  
  
"No!" demanded Katrina. "You know things like this always happen to Harry, so you know that he needs ALBUS DUMBLEDORE. Now, go get him!"  
  
"Well, I never! No student is going to speak to me like that! You go get your uncle yourself!"   
  
But Katrina refused to back down. "No, as Harry's bodyguard, I have to stay near him in this time of crisis. There is a dead body on the floor of the Gryfindor Common Room. We need Dumbledore, but Harry needs me! We need to discuss something in private. On my word, I swear to you my uncle will want me here with Harry!"  
  
"Fine." mumbled Madame Pompey as she left. "Her uncle thinks he can boss me around, now he bring his niece to do the same thing! Bossy little brat!"   
  
As soon as Harry heard the door click, he sprung out of the bed that Made Pompey had put him to rest in.   
  
"Bodyguard! YOU ARE MY BODYGUARD? WHO DECIDED THAT I NEEDED A BODY GUARD, AND ESPECALLY YOU OF ALL PEOPLE, YOU ARE CONTANTLY GETTING ATTACKED! ALL BECAUSE OF THAT STUPID NECKLACE!"  
  
"Quiet!" Katrina hissed reminding him of Professor Snape. "Now, you listen to me, Harry if you want to know the truth! Yes, I'm Voldermort's daughter. And I'm your bodyguard, assigned by Albus Dumbledore to protect you now that my father is back in power. If you want to know the truth, then shut your mouth and listen."  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
"My mother was a young girl when her father was killed. As an Auror, he died on the job, trying to protect a group of Muggles from some Dark wizards who would probably later become Death Eaters. All girls love their fathers, but she loved hers so much more than you could imagine. He was a very doting father, and she was heartbroken to lose him. In her young mind, it was the fault of the Muggles whom he was trying to protect. If it hadn't been for them, she would have her Daddy. A secret hate for Muggles, and Muggle born wizards grew inside her. It deepened when she came to Hogwarts. My mother was very popular, all the boys liked her, and she had many friends. But there was own boy that she really liked, your father, James Potter."   
  
Harry sighed. He could tell where this was going and he was in no mood for love triangles. Why did girls have to be this way? Why did they always think things happened the way they did because of stupid little school girl crushes and lost loves. It was quite ridiculous. No, Harry didn't want to know about Esmerellda Figg and her crush on his father. This wasn't what he needed to know! But he still kept listening.  
  
"As years went by," she continued, "Her crush deepened into real love. She was crazy about James, but he never really noticed her. Other boys did, Sirius Black thought of her as something of a goddess, and Remus Lupin swore she was part vela. But there was one guy who was deep in love with my mother, Severus Snape. He adored her, worshiped her, and thought she was the most beautiful and precious thing in the world. They became friends, and she confessed her love of James Potter to Severus. It nearly broke his heart. James and Severus had always been enemies right from the start, and the idea that James had the heart of the girl of his dreams, but just ignored her, was too much for Severus."  
  
"So, let me get this straight," said Harry. "Your mom liked my dad but he didn't like her. Snape liked your mom, but she only liked my dad, and that really hurt Snape."  
  
Katrina nodded. "Your father isn't exactly innocent on this case. He noticed Snape's pain, and because of that, he asked my mom out. Mostly because my mom was very pretty, and popular and it had the bonus of really hurting Snape. But your dad never really loved her or cared about her that much. Well, as you can guess Snape was not too happy about this, but my mom was ecstatic. She felt like all her dreams had come true, but then, your mother, Lilly Evans, came onto the scene. James immediately fell head over heals for Lilly, and dumped my mother quickly and without mercy. It broke my mother's heart. She had loved James so much, and for so long. Nobody really understood the depth of her emotions, especially James. Maybe if they had, it would have been different. She hated Lilly most of all, and the fact that she was Muggle born and already hated Muggles just intensified it. She vowed revenge on the people of the Muggle world and for the pain they had caused her."  
  
"So, this made her want to be a Death Eater?" asked Harry. "But how did she meet up with them?"  
  
"There were many seventh year Slytherins who had decided to join up with Voldemort. All she had to do was to seek them out. At this time, Voldemort had many loyal followers, and was very powerful. And of course, I am sure you know that one of those was Severus Snape, her close friend."  
  
"But wait a second!" Harry interrupted! "Your mum is the same age, as my parents, then what would she be doing with Voldemort? How could he have a kid?"  
  
Katrina blushed. "Voldemort is indeed much older, but that doesn't mean anything. My mother became a Death Eater, and when she did, she caught the attention Voldemort very quickly. How could she not, with her beauty. She was very talented, and very smart. Plus, she was noted for her extreme hatred of Muggles. She was the daughter of two very gifted Aurors, and the niece of Voldermort's greatest enemy, Albus Dumbledore. In addition, she was known to be a great Seerer. Voldemort wanted to meet a witch, who in his belief, would be worthy of him, and would be able to produce a worthy and strong heir. It was only a matter of time before he and my mother moved in together. They were never married of course. But my mother, and many Death Eaters believed that he loved her. At least at first. Soon, she was pregnant with me. When Voldemort learned that my mom was expecting, her created a safe place for her to go, and forbid her to leave the home, sealing it with magic. Nobody could come to see her, expect him and Severus Snape. Only the top Death Eaters even knew about her and me. When I, a daughter was born, he let my mother name me. Rebecca Basqulixe Riddle."  
  
"Your real name is Rebecca Riddle?" asked Harry. He shook his head. "Who are you? Do I even know you anymore?"  
  
Katrina only ignored him a continued on with her sad tale.   
  
"My father should have killed me. It's a well known fact that females are never near as good at Dark Magic as their male counterparts. And in society, the demand is for male heirs, not female heirs. Would the world respect a daughter? But Voldemort knew that it was best this way, I could be taught, I could be trained to be as good and strong as any man. And there were advantages to having a daughter, especially one who proved to be a pretty as her mother. Wizards would be responsive and trusting to a beautiful girl than a man. They would not suspect me to be dangerous, they would tell me their secrets, I would be an excellent spy. And women make much better Seerers, something that Voldemort wanted me to be, and considering my mother was one of the greats, he had expectations for me."  
  
She continued on. "Now you may be wondering why and how my conception would come to place. Well, as you know, Witches and Wizards live much much longer than Muggles, therefore our bodies are stronger and youthful looking for a very long time. Often Muggle men can impregnate a woman for most of their lives. Therefore, an older wizard would be able to make a baby, especially with a young healthy woman. Yeah, it's pretty gross, but mom didn't think of it that way. Age gaps are not so big in the wizard world, and considering it's Voldemort were talking about, and she was a devoted Death Eater who was in love with him, she was about to tell him no."  
  
"Rape?" asked Harry, breathless.  
  
She shook her head. "No, not that at all. They were not legally married, but it might as well have been. My mom made her choice. And because of that choice, I'm standing her before you."  
  
"So, how did your mom die? How did you come to raised the way that you were?" asked Harry.  
  
Katrina winced at the question, but she still answered it. "My mother heard a lot of tales of the carnage that was caused by the Death Eaters, and my father. She knew that he had big plans for me. One day, she snuck out of the house, and in disguise, followed some Death Eaters as the committed a massacre in a small Muggle community. The carnage revolted her. She changed her mind and wanted nothing to do with it. She hated Muggles, but she was not a terrible person, and something touched her deep inside. She wanted out. A few weeks later, she tried to escape with me, but she was caught. The Death Eaters tortured her until Lord Voldemort arrived. He sent them away, and brought her and me back home where he later beat and tortured my mother. Voldemort convinced her that was only frightened, only weak, and that she should not run away again. He promised her that if such sights bothered her, then he would protect her from then. He brainwashed her. My mother believed all of his stories, and together, they put all their faith in me."  
  
"Then the day came where Voldemort announced to her that he would kill James Potter, and you the following day. This distraught my mother very much because she still loved your father. She begged him not to do it. That day, when he was away on other business, she was desperate. She put a large poisonous spider in my bed to kill me. She knew that if he would find me home dead, he would not go kill James because he would be too upset. And that would give her the time she needed to come up with a plan to save her beloved. But the plan didn't work, the spider didn't kill me, I killed it. When he came home, he found the spider and me, and then he knew what my mother had done. He used his powers to find out why she had tried to kill his daughter, and she was so scared that she told the truth. She loved James so much, she was willing to sacrifice her only child in order to protect him. She begged him not to kill James, to kill Lilly Potter instead. After hearing the story, he killed my mother in front of my eyes. Then he went to your house, in a jealous rage, determined to kill James Potter. Still afraid for my safety, he brought me with you. He vowed not to kill Lilly because that's what my mother wanted him to do. First, he killed your father, and then, he tried to kill you, but your mom would not let him. He hated doing it, but he had to kill her, and then of course, he turned the wand on you, and the rest his history."  
  
"How do you know this?" he asked her.   
  
"Things that happened when I was a baby, I know because Dumbledore used his Pensive on me to see my memories, and to get information. I have relived them many times. I am also dependent on the stories told to me by people, especially Severus Snape. And second of all, there is my mother's diary. It was the same diary she wrote in since before my grandfather was killed. A magical diary, one that can story lots of information."  
  
"Like Tom Riddle's diary?" he asked. When Katrina didn't know what he was talking about, he explained about the events of his second year, and the Chamber of Secrets.  
  
Katrina shook her head. "No, nothing like that. I've tried to communicate with her, but I never got any results, so I know it is nothing like that. It's a lot like a Muggle diary, except it can not be read by anyone until after you are dead, and although it looks very small and light, it opens up to reveal endless pages. You could write a novel every single day of your life, and never fill up the diary. That's why it is magical."  
  
"But why would Voldemort want to kill my father and me in the first place?" asked Harry.   
  
"That I do not know. But Dumbledore knows. He used the Pensive on me, and he found out that information, but he refuses to reveal it. He says it's too dangerous and if he told me, it would interfere with fate."  
  
Harry was full of questions. "He took you with him? Then you saw my parents die, and my attack, and your father's demise. How did Dumbledore find you?"  
  
Her answer was word and it was a word that Harry did not want to hear. "Snape." she said.  
  
"Snape? But I thought he was a Death Eater! Why does Dumbledore trust him?!?!?!" asked Harry.  
  
"When my mother set out to join the Death Eaters with Snape, they made it look like she was kidnapped. She didn't want her family to know she had willingly joined them because she was too ashamed. That day when she tried to escape, Snape was among the Death Eaters that caught her, and he was forced to watch the woman that he loved so much be abused. That disgusted him, and he knew he did not want to be a Death Eater anymore. He wanted to save my mother, so he told Dumbledore where she was, and he became a spy. Together, they tried to save her, but it was no use. Dumbledore trusts him not to betray him because of the love he haves for my mother, and the love that he has for me. As a spy, and a top Death Eater, he knew that Voldemort was going to do that night. He was too late to get to the Potters to save your parents, but he arrived in the ruins before anyone else, and found me. He left you lying there, to be found by Dumbledore and Hagrid, but he brought me to Hogwarts. I knew Snape, I trusted him. I was only two years old, and Snape made me feel safe. He brought Dumbledore to the secret hiding place where my mother had lived and found the diary. I was never allowed to read it, but have stolen peeks. Dumbledore used the Pensive on me, and trained me to be strong and resist evil. Uncle Dumbledore is such a noble man. He knew what I am, and that when I turn 16 years old, my powers will fully awaken and I will become more powerful than Voldermort or Uncle Dumbledore combined. And now, I am."  
  
  
  
"So, I see my rebellious niece has found that now is the time for her to tell you the truth, even though I had begged her not too. It's all as well, I suppose, that you know, Harry." Dumbledore announced, entering the room. "Yes, I did train her to become your bodyguard, for I feared that when Voldemort returned, he would want desperately to kill you. And he has tried to."   
  
Katrina quickly explained about Worm tail's attack, while Madame Pompey took care of Harry.   
  
"Killing him was a foolish thing to do." Dumbledore said sternly, "and I am truly disgusted with you, but it was for the defense of yourself and Harry. You could only do what you thought was best for your safety and his. The body will be taken care of. I understand that you had to do it, only I wish you would not have."  
  
"I believe this belongs to you." said Dumbledore, holding in one hand, her necklace. "I found it in the corridors."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Author's Note:  
  
Whew! This chapter was hard to write! It took a really long time, so I hope you liked it. I hope it made sense. Yes, you will find out why Voldemort wanted to kill James and Harry, but not for a long time.   
  
What did you think about this chapter? I'd love to hear!   
  
Next chapter will be much lighter, I hope!   
  
-Amanda 


	26. Spies and Snakes

Chapter 26   
  
Snakes and Spies   
  
It was a dark night in the Hospital Wing, and Harry's mood was very dark. Learning that the girl he had loved so much was the daughter of the most evil man in the world, the daughter that had tried to kill Harry on so many occasions, had taken his parents away from him, had murdered Cedric Diggory in front of his eyes, and hurt so many other innocent people, well, that knowledge was just too much for him. Thinking back upon his state of mind during the summer, Harry remembered how troubled and lonely he felt. Constantly thinking about Cedric, and Voldermort's return. When Katrina showed up at his door step, she made everything in the world at least kind of appear to be okay. And the way she had kissed him, Harry never imagined anything so beautiful. But she was the daughter of the most evil person in the world. How could that possibly be? And could he really trust Katrina? Did he even know her at all?  
  
Harry didn't know when he fell asleep but an uneasy dream came his way. He was lying in his bed, starring at the ceiling, when the door opened and Katrina glided in. She was wearing a long flowing medieval style gown. It looked like something he had seen in the portraits at the Entrance Hall. The gown was silver with curly green coils randomly trailing down the hem like serpents. Green and silver? The colors of Slytherin! Her eyes flashed menacingly. The green and silver specks that Harry had always been so fascinated by, now seemed to only confirm her heritage. Her waist long hair was blowing up into the air wildly. She looked dangerous, and Harry would be haunted by visions of her for the rest of his life. Her skin was pale like death. Was she dead? A ghost? Had she just been murdered by one of her father's followers? Around her waist, Harry saw her wearing a silver and green belt covered in emeralds, and hanging from the belt he saw the jewel encrusted sheath of a sword. Like something out of a King Arthur legend, she removed the sword, and pointed it outward, and walked toward Harry.   
  
"Harry Potter, I have come for you...." she whispered.  
  
"Katrina?" he whispered back. "What are you going to do?"   
  
But before he could answer, he saw the door pop open, and in came a flood of green and silver serpents.   
  
"Katrina! Look out!" he screamed.   
  
She turned around, and fought off the snakes, slicing them apart with her magnificent sword. But it was no use. The snakes eventually overtook her. Harry was frozen to his bed, unable to move, unable to help her, forced to watch Katrina be devoured by hungry snakes.   
  
"Nooooooo! Katrina! Noooooo! I'm sorry, Katrina! I'm sorry!" he cried out in agony, as snakes tore off bits of her flesh.  
  
He was shaken awake with a start, but he was still screaming, in his scar was burning. His face was cold and wet with sweat, his body was trembling. A hard loud slap across his face brought him to his senses.  
  
"Katrina!" he cried. She was sitting on the edge of his bed with her bunny slippers tucked neatly underneath her.   
  
"Sorry, Harry, had to slap you. The way you were carrying on, I thought even though you were awake, you were still stuck in your nightmare. Was it a bad one?"  
  
"No, I dreamed about pink happy bunnies bouncing through a field." he said sarcastically.   
  
"Sounds terrifying". she said with a grin. She pulled off one of her slippers, and pretended that it was a wild animal trying to attack Harry, and that she was fighting him off.   
  
"No! No! No, you vicious killer rabbit! Don't attack, Harry! Don't worry, I'll save you, boy!"   
  
Harry laughed and forgot for a few happy moments that information that had been revealed to him.   
  
When their laughter finally died down, Katrina looked at him, and said, "I'm still the girl you have always known, Harry. The same old Katrina I have always been. Now you just know more about me. I hope this won't change anything between the two of us."  
  
"I hope so too, but I'm not sure. It's all very shocking and strange, and new. I'm going to try very hard to remember that you are your own person and not your father." Harry told her.   
  
"Thank you, Harry. I don't want to lose you as a friend. I really care about you." she said.  
  
Harry smiled. "How did you know I was having a nightmare? Were you in here the whole time?"  
  
"It wasn't too hard to figure it out! You were thrashing about like some kind of crazy person, screaming my name. I told my Uncle UI was going to stay here and watch over you tonight because I thought you would have a nightmare, and I was right. I was hiding in the shadows so you wouldn't be able to see me."   
  
"Thank you, Katrina, but why don't you go back to your room so you can get some sleep. I'll be okay, and I don't know why I was made to stay here." said Harry.  
  
"Okay, I guess I'll leave if you don't want me." she told him. She stood up from Harry's bed, and turned to go.  
  
Harry felt like a fool. There were many responses he could say, given her poor choice of words, but he couldn't manage to get any of them past his lips.   
  
"Goodnight." she said, pressing a gentle kiss against his forehead, before she left.  
  
Harry slept better than he had ever had before.  
  
**************************************************************************  
  
The next morning, Harry was released from the Hospital Wing but he did not tell anyone the truth about Katrina. He did not feel anyone had the right to know if Katrina did not see fit to tell them. He found her in the Gryfindor Common Room, sitting among her cousins, and Arizona Brown. Since Hogwarts was the only safe place for them, now that Death Eaters were after them. they would begin taking classes there after Christmas Break was over. They waved, but Harry didn't join them. The only people Harry wanted to see at the moment was Ron and Hermione, even though he was not going to tell them the truth.  
  
He spent the day with Ron, playing lazy games of Wizard's Chess, and listening to Hermione preach about the rights of House Elves.   
  
That night at dinner, he saw Katrina enter the Great Hall next to Draco Malfoy. He thought he was going throw up when he saw that they were holding hands.   
  
Katrina didn't sit with them at lunch. She sat with Malfoy, his arm linked tightly around her shoulders.   
  
"Tough luck, mate." said Ron. "First she dumps my git of a brother, and starts dating that scum bag. I don't think you have a chance with her, she only has a taste for losers when it come to guys."  
  
Harry scowled.   
  
He waited up for her in the Common Room that night. When midnight came and went. Harry decided that he had no choice but to look for her. Perhaps something terrible had happened. If Malfoy hurt her, Harry wouldn't need magic. He'd crush in his arrogant skull with is bare hands. With a feeling of dread, Harry knew where Katrina and Malfoy would be. They'd be in the Astronomy Tower, just like where he had found Katrina with Percy before. And sure enough, they were there. It was enough to turn Harry's heart to stone. The thought of HIS sweet Katrina wrapped up in the arms of a villain like Malfoy, his mouth on hers, it was enough to drive Harry to murder. Instead, Harry went back to Gryfindor Tower and continued to wait for her.   
  
When she came through the Portrait Hole, Harry rounded on her.   
  
"How could you, Katrina! How could you date a jerk like him! You know he only wants you because he can tell I'm crazy about you!"   
  
"Oh, you think the only reason another guy could be interested in me is that he wants to get to you? Am I that ugly or what?" she yelled back.   
  
Harry then realized his poor choice of words. "No, Katrina, that's not what I meant, well, maybe it, but, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MALFOY?"  
  
"Harry, be quiet. Keep your voice down. Now, I'm going to tell you something and you are not going to like it, but you have to accept it."  
  
"What?" asked Harry. "Are you in love with Malfoy now or something?"  
  
"No, I'm not in love with Malfoy. I'm in love with you, although I doubt that I could be in love with somebody who could be so utterly stupid. Okay, here's the truth, Harry. I broke up with Percy because he tried to force me to be more serious than what I was ready for. I cared about Percy, I liked him, but I don't love him. I love you, I have loved you since we walked around Privet Drive together."   
  
"Then what the hell are you doing with Malfoy?" Harry yelled.  
  
"Getting information." she said.  
  
"Huh? asked Harry with one eyebrow raised.  
  
"I'm doing some spy work for Uncle Dumbledore. Malfoy's dad is a Death Eater, and so is his friend's dads, so he would know all about what's going on. I'm trying to get inside information, and so far, I've got some information that Uncle Dumbledore might not know about. It's not the most important information in the world, but it could help, so I would appreciate it if you would not follow us around like you were doing. It could interfere with my mission."  
  
"But I saw you making out with him! Even if you did get good information, is it really worth doing THAT to get it? How far are you going to take this, Katrina? Because it kind of sounds like prostitution to me!"  
  
"Oh, Harry!" she said, her face flushing beet red with anger. "Don't be a complete idiot! I'm not going to have sex with him! What kind of girl do you think I am!"  
  
"Even if you really get some useful information, would it be worth it?" Harry asked her. "Would it be worth it to compromise yourself to get it? It's playing dirty, Katrina. In more ways the one."  
  
"It would be worth it." she told him looking very much like Professor McGongall, "if it stopped Voldemort from hurting anyone, especially you!"   
  
"Don't worry about me." said Harry. "I can't defend myself well enough without you locking lips with Malfoy! I've taken care of myself just fine before you showed up on Privet Drive!"  
  
"But things have changed, Harry. It's a different world now. You need me, you really do." she said. "I've got to do what I can."  
  
"I need you," he said desperate to make her understand, "as my friend, my partner, my girlfriend. Not as a spy. Do you really think it did me any good to see my worst enemy hanging all over you like that? It should have been me kissing you, not Malfoy."   
  
"You love me, don't you Harry?" she said smiling. "Why don't you just tell me that you love me?"  
  
Harry sighed. "What good would it do? Beside, you already know that I love you! So, don't be stupid!"  
  
"Harry, I have to do my duty. This is my job. I am honor bound. I have no choice." she said sadly.  
  
"There are more important things that honor." Harry said. "Friendship, what's morally right, love, trust, companionship, loyalty."  
  
"I have to do this. I don't know if I can get anything out of Malfoy that will really help us fight Voldemort. But I have to try. If I don't try, I know I will regret it." she said.  
  
"If I let you do this, I know I will regret it."  
  
"Now your starting to sound like Percy." she said with a laugh. "and we don't want that."  
  
"Alright, Katrina." Harry said against his will. "You do what you have to do."  
  
"Thank you, Harry." she said sincerely. A strange twinkle appeared in her eyes. "All this talk about kissing." she said. "Could I kiss you?"  
  
With an angry sigh, Harry stormed out of the room. He didn't much feeling like kissing any lips that had touched Malfoy's, even if they were Katrina's.   
  
**************************************************************************  
  
Author's Note:  
  
This chapter is dedicated to everyone who reads my chapters and reviews or signs the guest book. There was one particular reader who wanted to see Katrina and Malfoy get together. Sorry, that is not going to happen, but at least this is pretty close, right? :-   
  
Please keep reading. Things are going to start to really pick up now.   
  
Fanfiction.net readers, you may want to put me on your Author Alert's list. I'm going to be updating this story a lot lately, and I'm going to be writing many more parodies. 


	27. Fireside Chats

Chapter 26   
  
A Fireside Chat  
  
"Traitor! Dirty stinking $%^&* traitor!" Hermione spat as she sat down in the library next to Ron and Harry. Before, it would have shocked Harry to hear Hermione talk like that, but since Katrina had spent the last two weeks pretending to madly in love with Draco Malfoy, Hermione and Ron were both furious.   
  
"I don't understand what she thinks she's doing with Malfoy!" Hermione continued. "She knows you hate him and he hates you and his father is a Death Eater, and just a terrible person all together, and really mean to his House Elves, but does she remember that? Nooo.....she walks around school with her arm in his and smiles this big dumb smile and just ignores us all like we're complete toads are something!"   
  
"Hermione, we know all this!" grumbled Harry. He was very tired of Ron and Hermione constantly about Katrina. He thought what she was doing was horrible, but at least he knew it was not for real, and she had unselfish motives. "Do you have a point, or are you just rambling?"   
  
"Listen to this!" she cried. "I just saw Katrina hanging out Charms Corridor with a large group of Slytherins. Well, I hid behind the suit of armor trying to find out what they were talking about. Okay, I admit it, I was eavesdropping, but I was so curious and I just had to know! Anyway, one of the Slytherins asked Katrina why they didn't see her hanging around with us anymore, and she told them that she had never been our friends, she was just pretending to be our friends because Harry is Dumbledore's little pet, and ....oh, it was just so awful! She said she was only pretending to like us, she said we were disgusting boring revolting people she had ever met! She said the thought of having to share a Dormitory with me gave her the creeps! She called me a filthy mud-blood several times! And then she called Ron a blood traitor and Harry a half blood! Oh, how could she say those things! I thought she was my friend! I really did! She said she wanted to vomit when the Sorting Hat put her in Gryfindor. She said she's going to beg Dumbledore to let her be moved into Slytherin!"  
  
"Well, I hope they stick her in Slytherin! She doesn't belong in Gryfindor anyway!" said Ron, puffing up. "So, then what happened, Hermione?"  
  
"Oh, I couldn't stay quiet after hearing her say such awful, awful things. I jumped out of my hiding place and told her off!" Hermione announced.  
  
"You did what?" Harry cried. "Hermione, how could you?"  
  
"Oh, don't be such an idiot, Harry. I had to do something! Besides, how can you support her after she flat out ignores you, or is rude to you, or us?" Hermione lectured. "Anyway, I told her that I was sorry I had ever made friends with her, and I hoped she made it in Slytherin because after the way she had been acting none of her old friends would want anything to do with her anymore."  
  
"Good girl, Hermione." said Ron. "you tell that dumb cow what's what!"  
  
  
  
Harry was about at his breaking point. Ever since Katrina had told Harry her plan, she had avoided Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and especially Harry in front of everyone. When there was nobody around, she didn't have anything to do with anyone except Harry. Late at night, Harry waited up for her in the Common Room. She always returned around two in the morning, after a late night secret rendezvous with Malfoy, she was always sad and tired, but happy to see Harry. This was the only time of the day Harry got to speak with Katrina. The rest of the time she had to pretend to despise him. They'd usually set up by the fire talking for about an hour and they'd both head off for their dormitories. At first, Harry spent his time begging Katrina to stop her mission, but he had no luck. She was determined to get information from Malfoy. After a while, Harry gave up on that point, and tried to get Katrina to tell him about Malfoy's secrets, but that did not work either. So, they spent their time together, Katrina's head against his shoulder, talking about the fun they'd had over the summer. Harry knew that it hurt Katrina very deeply to have to pretend not to care about her friends, and even more to have Hermione or Ron be cruel to her because they did not know about her mission, and how desperately she needed Malfoy and the Slytherins to accept and trust her, and to get them to talk. But nobody else could know about this. Often, Katrina returned to the common room with tears in her eyes, and would try not to cry as she saw Harry waiting for her return.   
  
Harry, knowing that nothing he could say to his friends would change their minds about Katrina, was silent while he listened to them degrade and verbally bash her. He pretended to agree with Ron and Hermione, put did not put much effort into the act. He wondered if they really believed he didn't care about Katrina anymore. He figured they were too caught up in their own hatred to really care about Harry's pain. After a few "uh-huh" and "that's right" every time they paused for a breath, Harry excused himself and left. It was early, only six in the afternoon, but he headed up to his bed for a quick nap. He knew he was not getting enough sleep staying up for Katrina. So Harry began the habit of going to bed very early to make sure he got enough rest. Nobody seemed to notice this new habit except for Ron and Neville, and they ignored it after a while.  
  
It was the middle of the night when Harry awoke. He looked at the watch by his bed side and it said it was one in the morning. Making sure that Ron was asleep, Harry crept away into the common room.   
  
  
  
It was dark, but Harry knew Katrina preferred it dark. Spending all that time with people she hated, and being shunned by her friends that she loved so much, she was depressed. The darkness seemed to suit her anymore, and he noticed that her eyes that had always been so bright were now a different shade, a dark shadowy forest green. She didn't seem like the same girl sometimes.  
  
When Katrina walked through the Portrait Hole, she offered Harry a sad little fake smile as a greeting. But she could only pretend to smile for a moment before she burst into desperate tears.   
  
"What's wrong, Katrina?" he asked her, sliding his arm around her shoulders, knowing fully what the matter was.  
  
She only sobbed harder.  
  
  
  
"Katrina, let's talk about it, okay? It'll do you some good to talk about it. You know that I always understand."   
  
One word escaped from her lips. "Hermione." she breathlessly sobbed.  
  
"I know what she said to you. She told me all about." Harry said.  
  
"She hates me." Katrina wailed. "She hates me! Everyone hates me! I don't have any of my old friends anymore because of this stupid mission! I miss everyone so much. I miss Hermione! I miss Ron! I miss Neville! I miss Ginny! Draco said he doesn't like my cousins, so he doesn't want me hanging around them! Now if I want to talk to them, I have to go sneak off! Oh, he's horrible!"  
  
Anger erupted in Harry. "He won't let you talk to your cousins? That's really mean of him. I always thought Malfoy was a total jerk, but I didn't think even he could be that big of a bastard. Why doesn't he like them, anyway?"  
  
"He hates them because I accidentally mentioned that their half-bloods! Oh, that was a stupid stupid thing to do, and I can't believe I said it! But now he says he doesn't want me to have anything to do with him. He says that if I want to be with a member of the fine Malfoy family, I have to conduct myself in a certain manner! He's so arrogant and controlling! And he threatened Arizona!"  
  
"He did what?" asked a shocked Harry.  
  
"Well, you know how Arizona Brown has to stay here since Dumbledore thinks it's dangerous for him to go home, like my cousins, well, he came to talk to me today during dinner, and Malfoy threw a fit! He said that he didn't want me hanging around with him, he said Arizona was only after one thing for me, and he wasn't going to let any guy steal his girl, and he said if he saw Arizona talking to me again, he'd have his father curse him!"   
  
She threw her arms completely around Harry, and flung herself at him, tears drenching his robes. "What am I going to do, Harry? He's dangerous, he's really evil, he's so dangerous, what if he gets jealous and really goes after someone? Oh, I don't fear for myself, but I fear for everyone else, and for you!"  
  
Harry cringed. "Don't be afraid for me. I can handle Malfoy."   
  
She shook her head. "Hermione hates me, she really hates me, doesn't she?"  
  
Harry sighed. "She hates the person that you are pretending to be. But that's not who you really are, so, no, she does not hate you."   
  
With that, Katrina stopped crying, and she kissed Harry softly, her face still moist from her tears. There was nothing Harry had loved better than sharing a few kisses with Katrina, but they always left him feeling sad. Often the taste of salty tears clung to her lips, and sometime he caught a breath of a spicy cologne that Harry guessed belonged to Draco Malfoy. Harry often worried for Katrina. She may be the daughter of Lord Voldemort, and the most powerful witch in the world, but if Malfoy somehow discovered she was kissing Harry by the fireplace almost every night after leaving his company, Malfoy would be very very mad. He might try to hit her or something. In fact, Harry suspected that Malfoy would be so angry, that Katrina's power would not do her much good. If Malfoy struck or cursed Katrina, Harry would probably murder him. He had begged her so many time to give this spy act up, before she could go so far deep into it that she couldn't get herself out of trouble, but when he said this, she just cried even more, so Harry couldn't bring himself to beg her to stop spying tonight. Not after she had been crying so much already.  
  
Harry was so wrapped up in his own thoughts and worries, along with the kiss he was sharing with Katrina, that he didn't realize they were alone until he heard someone clear their throat behind him.  
  
Harry could almost feel his heart (and Katrina's!) stop beating. Practically frozen, they turned their heads around to see Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Neville standing there looking furious. Things were not looking good for Harry as his fingers were still tangled up in Katrina's long hair, and her arm was wrapped tightly around his waist. Harry also suspected that some of Katrina's Bubblegum Blast Off lip gloss was stuck to his lips.   
  
"Oh, hello, everyone. Nice of you to come by and visit." said Katrina sarcastically.   
  
"Oh, Harry|! How could you do this?!" yelled Hermione. She tried to grab his arm and pull him up off the couch but Harry shoved her off. Katrina moved so she was sitting straight up against the back of the couch, legs crossed trying to spare the last of her dignity. Harry put his hand on her knee.   
  
"I'm not going anywhere, Hermione." he said stubbornly.  
  
"Harry, you know that....that....that.....she's.....dating Malfoy....and how she has been saying all those awful things about us." Hermione bellowed on. "How could you possibly stand behind someone who's been smooching your worst enemy?"  
  
While Hermione lectured on, Harry snuck a look at his other friend's faces. Ron wore a look of total bewilderment that he should walk in on Katrina and Harry in such a way; Harry was surprised to see Ginny looking extremely grave and he wondered what she could be so sad about; but Neville didn't look surprised at all to catch Harry and Katrina in the middle of a snog session.   
  
Katrina sighed. "This has gone on for long enough. I think I'd better tell you guys what I'm really up to, and who I really am. Maybe, Hermione, if you know the truth, you won't hate me so much."   
  
She took a deep breathe and then told all of them, in a solemn barely audible whisper, the story about her parents and her mother's tragic end, about her heritage, and her mission to protect Harry from Lord Voldemort and to get inside information from students who might have been told (or overheard) valuable info from their Death Eater parents. When she finished, she seemed to almost tremble with nervousness about their reactions.   
  
They all spoke at once.  
  
"But it can't be true, can it? You've got to be making this up! I don't reckon it be possible for You-Know-Who to have a kid and actually care a damn about it......." Ron said looking as if he was about to have a heart attack from the shock.  
  
"Well, this does make sense, you know. A lot of these pieces are starting to come together. Yes, this does make perfect sense. Of course, you wouldn't want anything to do with Malfoy, oh, he'd be the perfect one to get information from, I bet he's just itching to show off, especially to impress a girl who he thinks would be in support of the Death Eaters!" Hermione said calmly. Hermione always took a more logical approach to things, and Harry was surprised to discover Hermione would think Katrina's story had any logic behind it at all, but to Hermione, everything seemed to make sense.   
  
Ginny looked as if she could burst into tears and any moment, and wanted to hug Katrina desperately. "And I thought you were just mean! I thought you just didn't like me anymore! Oh, you poor thing! Having to grow up like that, knowing the parents that gave you life were horrible monsters! You must be so afraid of You-Know-Who kidnapping you! How could you ever sleep at night! Oh, I'm so glad you and Harry are together, though. Oh, you look so wonderful together. Harry likes you a lot and you'll make him happy!"  
  
Neville just made a sound like the squeak of a very tiny and very frightened mouse, and looked as if he would vomit.   
  
After Katrina and Hermione exchanged apologizes, Neville regained the use of his voice. He began to beg Katrina to give her undercover work.   
  
"It sounds like a bad idea to me, I know you could find some stuff out, but it don't sound like it is worth it. What if Malfoy somehow finds out that You-Know-Who is your father? With his dad being one of You-Know Who's supporters, he could tell him where you are, and then he would come and take you away!" Neville pleaded.  
  
"Neville, don't be stupid. Voldemort already knows that I'm here! Of course he knows I'm at Hogwarts! Uncle Dumbledore knows he's back, so naturally Uncle would want me close by because I'm in danger of abduction, and since Harry is in danger too, it'd be natural that Uncle Dumbledore would want me to protect him from Voldemort, since I'd be able to understand Voldemort better than anyone else."  
  
"Don't say the name!" Ron yelled, nervously looking all around him as if Voldemort would likely jump out of the fireplace at him.   
  
"How come you call him Lord, well you know, and not dad?" asked Ginny.  
  
"We may share the same DNA, but I don't consider him family. He murdered my mother, he murdered Harry's family. When you think of a dad, you think of somebody reading you bedtime stories and building you a tree house, not somebody who tried to kill a baby boy. Besides, he didn't raise me. My Aunt Isabella and Uncle Joey did! Uncle Dumbledore and Grandma Figg did! And Severus Snape, he taught me most of what I know about, well, everything I need to know to survive battle with a certain evil relative of mine."   
  
"At least Snape got to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts to somebody." Ron joked.   
  
Neville seemed desperate to make Katrina promise to stay away from Draco Malfoy, but he was not successful. Ginny kept looking from Harry to Katrina like she was watching a funeral. After a lot of talking, Neville, Ginny and Katrina went off to bed while Harry, Ron and Hermione stayed behind to talk.  
  
"Wow." was the only words Ron could come up with to describe the situation once they were finally alone.   
  
"This is so weird." said Hermione. "It's like something out of The Twighlight Zone."  
  
"What's The Twightlight Zone?" asked Ron. "Let me guess, you read it in Hogwarts: A History?"  
  
"No," said Hermione, barely suppressing a laugh. "It's a muggle television show."  
  
"What do you reckon is wrong with Ginny?" asked Harry. "She looked so sad."  
  
"Humph." said Hermione. "Isn't it obvious?"  
  
"Er, no, it's not. That's why I'm asking you." replied Harry.   
  
Hermione sighed. "Harry, she still likes you." she said.  
  
"But she's going out with Neville." Ron remained Hermione.  
  
"That doesn't mean anything. Oh, she likes Neville just fine, and she cares about him, but she loves Harry, She's always loved you, Harry, she has this sort of hero worship thing for you. And she completely idolizes Katrina. She thinks she's the greatest thing ever. And she wants both of you to be happy, because she cares about you so much, but she likes Harry and wants to be with him, so she's jealous and hurt that Harry doesn't like her back, and loves another girl, but she doesn't want Katrina to get her heartbroken. Do you understand?"   
  
Ron and Harry starred back at Hermione with blank expressions.   
  
"There is no way that my little sister could possibly have that much on her mind She's just a little kid who has a crush on Harry because he's famous, and he saved her life, and is always around, and is nice to her. That's it. She'll grow out if it. She's just a little kid. She's so young."  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You don't understand emotions, do you Ron?"  
  
"Nah, most problems in life can be solved or else forgotten over a good game of Quiditch, aint I right, Harry?" replied Ron light heartily, elbowing Harry in the ribs. "But seriously, Hermione, don't tell me about Ginny, okay? She's my baby sister, and I understand plenty about her."  
  
"Whatever you say." sighed Hermione before turning to go to bed. "But your baby sister has done a lot of growing up in the last six months."   
  
************************************************************************  
  
Author's Note:   
  
"At least Snape got to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts to somebody." Ron joked.   
  
Anybody else really like that line and think that this remark is sooooooo totally Ron Weasley? Let me know what you think about this chapter, and what you'd like to see happen. I know not much has happened in the last two chapters, mostly talking and explaining, but I think it's important to show the reactions of Harry and co. to this news about Katrina, and I really wanted to express the pain Katrina feels about having to hurt a lot of people she cares about in order for her mission to be successful.   
  
I have written a song fic from the point of view of Katrina, a song fic describing Katrina's thoughts on her mission, and her late night "chats" with Harry in the Gryfindor Common Room, and her loneliness after being isolated from her friends, and how she's tormented knowing she has to keep Lord Voldemort being her father a secret. The title of the song fic is called "Love Be Still", after the Trick Pony song that is based on. It's a very beautiful song, and I really hope everyone will read it, enjoy it, and most importantly, tell me what you liked or did not like about it. This will be my very first song fic, so keep that in mind.   
  
To get to the song fic.....  
  
if you are reading this one fanfiction.net, scroll to the very top of the screen and click on my screen name (houdinishideaway) when that page loads, click on the link to the story.  
  
if you are reading this on geocities.com/ilikeneville (hint: it's a black background w/yellow text....lol!) go back to the main page and click on the link to read my other fan fics. It's in read text. Then when that page loads, click on the link for "Love Be Still".  
  
Pretty easy, huh.  
  
Hope you like it.  
  
-Amanda 


	28. The Second Scar

Chapter 27   
  
The Second Scar  
  
The next morning, at breakfast, an announcement was made.  
  
"Since so many of you enjoyed the Yule Ball last year, we have decided to make it something of an annual tradition." said Albus Dumbledore. "Of course, Christmas is over with, and we won't want to have a dance every Christmas since it would inconvenience our students who wish to spend the holidays at home with their family, so we decided to have our dace, the Cupid's Arrow Dance, on Valentine's Day Evening. Dress robes will be worn, naturally, and the dance will be open to all students, regardless of what year they are."   
  
Talk immediately sprang up all over the school. Excited students had a lot to discuss, such as what they were going to wear, and who they wanted to go with. Harry knew exactly who he wanted to go with, but he figured that Katrina would be attending the dance with Malfoy, since she was pretending to be his boyfriend.   
  
Potions was unbearable. They were still working on the Balding Potions, and it was hard, sweaty work. Harry couldn't see what use a Balding Potion would be to anyone with the exception of the Weasley twins would love to use it as a practical joke. Wouldn't an Anti-Balding Potion be more effective?  
  
Snape gave giving Harry dark looks, his eyes darting from Katrina to Malfoy and Harry constantly. Did Snape know about Katrina's mission, and how much Harry desperately wanted it to end? At least Harry didn't have to bear seeing Malfoy and Katrina sit together. While Malfoy had tried several times that lesson to get her to come over and sit by him, she refused, and said she wanted to sit on the other side of the room with her best friend, Neville Longbottom. Although Katrina still had to avoid Harry, Hermione, and Ron for her spying to work, she seemed to make an exception to spend time with Neville. She had told Malfoy that she felt sorry for Neville, and that he was a charity case. Malfoy seemed to fall for this.  
  
Neville could definitely use all the help he could get with the potion, but Katrina was merely an average student when it came to Potions, so she was not that much help. Feeling unsure of himself, Neville clumsily dropped the final ingredient (a sheep bladder) into the pot. When he did, it caused a large amount of the potion to splash up into the hair, and it struck Katrina. Almost instantly, her long hair was gone, and her head was bald. Although it was bald, her head was not bare. An inch and a half above her right ear, she had a small but recognizable...  
  
"Scar!" shouted Draco Malfoy pointing at her, yelling in utter disgust. "A great big ugly scar just like Potters!"   
  
Everyone in the room starred at Katrina, who burst into tears and ran from the room.   
  
Snape looked quite alarmed as he starred at the doorway Katrina had just burst out of.   
  
"Someone, go after her. Make sure she gets to the Hospital Wing. Someone. Don't care who. Just someone. Do it." he breathlessly commanded, his hands trembling.   
  
  
  
But everyone was much too shocked to do what Snape had asked them to. Harry had found that his feet appeared to be glued to the cold dungeon floor. Neville Longbottom, however, didn't seem to care about anything to but Katrina's safety.   
  
He chased after her, running down the hallway screaming "Katrina come back here! I don't care if your bald! I'm sure that they can sort you out in the Hospital Wing!"   
  
Harry smiled. Although Katrina took great pride her personal appearance (okay, so she was a bit vain!), Harry was sure that having the whole class know she had a lighting bolt shaped scar, a secret one, was the source of her distress.   
  
"What the bloody hell would she have a scar like yours Potter?" Malfoy spat at him, voicing the very question that was running through Harry's mind. Malfoy looked like he was about to vomit. Harry almost felt sorry for him, discovering that his girlfriend had a scar exactly like Harry's was too much for him.   
  
Across the room, Snape cleared his throat very loudly. "Of course, she doesn't have a scar just like Potter's! Don't be an idiot, Mr. Malfoy. I'd think that even a simpleton like Longbottom could tell that the girl had a tattoo."  
  
Harry could tell that Snape was doing some quick thinking by the way his eyes kept darting around the room. Harry was glad he was doing this, it kept a lot of awkward questions from being asked, but Harry knew this was not to spare him embarrassment. Snape must care very deeply for Katrina to put on such a charade.   
  
"If you knew anything about the girl, who supposedly is your girlfriend, you'd know that she may be a British citizen, but she grew up in America. That wizards and witches of America reacted strangely to what had happened in the past with the Dark Lord. He hadn't bothered them yet, so he felt safe, but they worried if he could come back in the future and attack American wizards. Sects of wizards believed that if they tattooed themselves with a lighting bolt like Potter's, it would protect him. But it had to be in a spot that was not visible."  
  
Harry knew Snape was lying, but Malfoy didn't seem to know.   
  
"Ex-girlfriend." Malfoy announced looking bloodless and pale, but still carrying on the cocky attitude that he always had. "I wouldn't want to be with a girl who had the same disfigurement as Potter."   
  
The bell soon rang, and they all packed up and left. Before Harry could leave, he, Ron, and Hermione gathered up Neville and Katrina's belongings, and headed toward the Hospital Wing.   
  
When they got to the door, Katrina and Neville came out the same time they were coming inside, causing Neville to get hit the head.   
  
"Hey, your hair grew back." Harry said.   
  
  
  
Katrina's hair looked the same as it always had, except that instead of being down to her waist, it now fell lightly at her shoulders.  
  
"But it's shorter now." Harry added quickly, remembering that girls liked it when it when guys noticed hair style changes. "Is it still growing back?"  
  
"Nope, I decided I wanted it this length, I thought a change in style might be fun. Madame Pompey just gave me half the amount of Hair Re-growth Potion she normally would have." Katrina said smiling, and shaking her head.  
  
Then she her face turned serious, and she looked at Harry. "I need to talk to you alone." she said. She looked at the others and said apologetically, "I hope you understand, but this is something Harry and I have to talk about by ourselves."  
  
  
  
They nodded.   
  
"Oh well, I'll be late for Arthinmancy." said Hermione. "And Ron and Neville, you don't want to be late for Divination."   
  
"No, we certainly don't want that." said Ron, grinning broadly. "C'mon, Neville, let's those two have their privacy."   
  
Harry and Katrina walked in silence until they got to the end of the corridor. Katrina sighed, knowing she's have to answer Harry's questions even though she did not want to.   
  
"I supposed my spying gig with Malfoy is kaput." she said. "He got really mad, didn't he?"   
  
"Yeah, it really upset him." said Harry. "But he's a big stupid git anyway, so don't worry about Malfoy. He wasn't worth your time. I didn't want your mission to fail. I knew it was important to you that you do your duty, but I can't deny that I'm happy Malfoy does want you to be his girlfriend anymore."   
  
Feeling a sudden rush of boldness, he quickly added on, "Mostly because I want you to be my girlfriend, and get to the be one everybody sees you with, walking around Hogwarts and all that. I guess you Kinda are my girlfriend, but it'd be nice if I knew for sure."   
  
"Did Snape say anything about my scar?" she asked him.  
  
"Snape said it was a tattoo." said Harry. "But it's not, is it?"  
  
"No, it's not a tattoo. That was the cover story that we were supposed to use in case something like that happened. Was Malfoy convinced?"  
  
"Yeah, he was." said Harry. "But I've got to know, why and how did you get that scar?"  
  
Katrina gulped. "I was there that night your parents died. At the house. He didn't want to leave me alone by myself after my mom tried to kill me, so he took me along. I was two years old, and I can relive it when a Dementor comes near me, just like you can. When the cursed that failed to kill you, backfired upon him, it created such a force of power that it destroyed your home. Some of that force hit me, but it didn't kill me since I was an innocent child, and I was not the one doing the spell, it just cut me. So, I have a scar just like yours. Only mine can be covered much easier."  
  
"That's why I hurt so bad that night you killed Wormtail. It was your anger! I can feel it when you feel a strong emotion, just like Voldemort!" Harry exclaimed.   
  
Katrina nodded. "I didn't want you to know about it, I was afraid you'd hate me. think that I was responsible or something like that."  
  
Harry frowned. "Katrina, we have had this discussion before. You know that I could never hate you. You were not responsible. For God's sake, you were a toddler when it happened!"   
  
Katrina turned away without speaking, and head down the stairs. Harry followed her. Suddenly, she spun around on her heels, her skirt flying upwards.   
  
"Harry, go to the dance with me." she said.   
  
It was not a request. It was a command. How could Harry refuse?   
  
"Since, I no longer have a date, now that Malfoy dumped me, I think you don't have one yet, maybe we could go together." she said with an impish grin.   
  
Harry returned the smile. "Okay, I guess I'll go with you since I don't have anyone better to go with."  
  
"Only because you don't anyone better?" she said, laughing.  
  
"Of course." joked Harry. "Why else would I go with you?"  
  
"Well, I'm off to Remedial Herbology. Horrible stuff, but I guess I gotta go. And you have to be at Divination." she said, taking off farther down the stairs.   
  
Harry walked towards his Divination room, feeling so full of life that even Professor Trelawney wouldn't predict his death today. 


	29. The Cupid's Arrow Dance

Chapter 28  
  
The Cupid's Arrow Dance  
  
Before Harry could have ever guessed it, the night of the dance was upon him. It was like living in a slow motion dream. After spending the day hanging out with Ron and Neville, he headed up to his room to get ready. He was so nervous that he was trembling. Ron sniggered as Harry tried to smooth down his unruly hair.   
  
"What are you so nervous for?" Ron asked. "It's just a dance."  
  
Harry smirked. "No, but I'm going with Katrina Figg."   
  
"So," asked Ron. "She's just a girl."   
  
"Yeah, I know." Harry replied. "But we both know that she's different."  
  
"Well, I guess she is a little weird. Especially with her clothes. Why can't she just wear robes like everybody else?" wondered Ron.   
  
"She grew up in America, Ron; I think there all a little weird over there."   
  
Along with Neville, they headed down to the common room to meet up with Hermione, Ginny, and Katrina.  
  
"Are you nervous about your date with Hermione?" asked Neville.  
  
"Of course, I'm not!" protested Ron. "Hermione is just my friend."  
  
"Yeah, sure." Sniggered Harry.   
  
But the Ron's feelings for Hermione were clear the moment he saw her. She was wearing her blue dress robes again, the same ones that they had seen her wear at the Yule Ball. Ginny was wearing yellow robes that did not go well with her hair. Katrina was not wearing robes at all. Instead, she chose to wear a formal evening gown. It was made out of a satiny silver material, with three quarter sleeves, and a long flowing skirt. Up in the slit were many embroided dragonflies. The dress was a two piece, a spaghetti strap dress with a matching dragon fly jacket on top. Around her slender neck, she wore a long matching silver scarf that fell to her knees. Harry saw her and his heart caught in his throat.   
  
"Hi Harry. I despise dress robes," she said, as if that was a perfectly good greeting for the beginning of their date. But then, as he slipped his arm into hers and led her towards the Great Hall, maybe it was.   
  
The dance floor was very crowded. Harry really didn't like dancing, but Katrina did. Harry didn't really mind the slow songs. All he had to do was put his arms around Katrina and slowly twirl around in circles. It was an easy task, but it made him a bit dizzy. Maybe it was Katrina's perfume. Harry thought she might have been nervous about their date; she seemed to have put a little too much on. Harry liked the ocean and citrus fruit as much as the next guy, but too much was too much. He smiled though, when he saw a silver chain around her wrist. She was wearing the charm bracelet that he had given her for Christmas.   
  
Ron and Neville apparently did not care much for it either, so the girls danced together, while the three guys found some chairs in the corner and talked about their dates.   
  
"Okay, admit it, Ron, your crazy about Hermione," Neville said.   
  
Ron frowned as a reply. Harry stared at him. "Yeah, Ron, just go ahead and get it over with and ask her out."   
  
"Alright, I admit it, I like Hermione." Ron half whispered. "I just wished I knew if she liked me."   
  
"Obviously, she does, Ron. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to the dance with you," said a voice behind them. The voice belonged to Drew Fordson, the defense against the dark arts teacher.   
  
He had a rather large and well decorated box of candy in his arms, and he sat it down on Harry's lap.   
  
"Will you give this to Katrina for me?" he asked. "They were sent as a Valentine's Day gift from one of her old schoolmates. Very expensive, fine chocolates."   
  
"Sure," said, Harry and slid the box under his chair. Drew Fordson wished them a nice evening, and went to ask Professor Sinastra to dance. Soon, the girls came to join them.   
  
Hermione asked Ron to go with her to get a glass of punch. Then Neville pulled Ginny onto the dance floor.   
  
"I could use a breathe of fresh air." Katrina said. Harry was more than happy to lead her outside into the beautifully decorated gardens. It was just like it had been decorated the year before with the Yule Ball except now there were statues of Cupids.   
  
It was dark out in the garden, and the beautiful paths (made from fresh rose petals) were lit by only moonlight. They walked around for awhile debating whether Ron would have the courage to ask Hermione out or not. Harry tried to lean forward to try and kiss her, but her silver scarf flew into his face from a slight cool breeze. He laughed as he pulled it away, and then when he tried once more to kiss her, they heard noises, coming from a clump of bushes nearby. Apparently, they were not the only ones who had come outside for a bit of kissing. Standing in an early corner, they spotted Ron and Hermione. Ron must have somehow managed to get the courage to ask out Hermione, because he had his arms around her waist, and she was running her fingers through his red hair. Harry was happy for Ron. After all, it was Ron's first kiss, and he knew how much he liked Hermione, but he didn't want to be in this situation. So, he and Katrina (who was giggling madly) snuck back into the Great Hall.   
  
Later on, after Ron and Hermione had came back inside, (Harry had to ask Katrina not to tell Ginny or Neville about what they had saw – she was covering her mouth and giggling insanely the moment Ginny approached her back inside.) They all went back outside into the gardens to hang out, and talk. They ate a lot of those chocolates that Drew Fordson gave them. Maybe it was the night air, or the chocolate, or just that they were all feeling happy, but they were quite giddy. Maybe it really was the chocolates. The sugar certainly put Ron into a good mood, he was even brave enough to put his arm around Hermione and even kiss her on the cheek.. They sat out there for what seemed like hours, having a blast. But then, slowly Harry began to feel sleepy. His eyes drooped, and his breathe got heavy. He felt very drossy, as if he would fall into a very deep sleep. Why was he so sleepy all of a sudden? It wasn't that late a night? He couldn't fall asleep like this in front of us his friends. They'd make fun of him. The world was getting dark……very dark. Where had all the stars gone? It was becoming harder and harder for Harry to keep his eyes open. He was sooooooo sleeeeppppppyyyyyyyy……..  
  
Harry awoke with a jolt. He had slipped off the park bench that he and his friends had been sitting at, and onto the cold ground. He felt very foolish. He must have fallen asleep and fell onto the ground. But what had made him wake up like that? He thought he had heard a scream, a woman's scream. But he must have been dreaming. Great, now Ron was really going to make fun of him. Then Harry saw something that made his entire body turn to ice. Lying on the ground next to him was the long silver scarf Katrina had been wearing, and it looked as if it had been trampled by a pair of muddy boots. He put his glasses back on. They must have slipped off. He gasped as he looked at the scarf. It had a small red stain on it. It was Katrina's blood.  
  
"What happened here?" asked Hermione.   
  
"What's going on?" asked Ron.  
  
"Why did we all fall asleep?" asked Neville.  
  
"Harry, why are you on the ground?" asked Ginny.   
  
He held up the scarf. "She's gone," Harry said. "And I don't know if anyone can help her. That's blood on the scarf."   
  
Hermione pointed to the ground. Under where the scarf had been was a note.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 


	30. Never Awake

Chapter 29  
Never Awake  
  
Harry's stared in terror as he stared down at the note on the ground. It was in Katrina's handwriting, and Harry almost collapsed onto the ground when he realized that he was reading her suicide note. He threw the note  
onto the ground as he took of running as fast as he could. There on the ground by Hagrid's hut, right where her note said she was going to be, he  
found her body scrawled upon the ground.  
  
"Katrina! Oh, Katrina, please don't be dead! Please don't be dead!" he cried as he threw himself on the ground beside her. His friends were following him but he didn't notice.  
  
"Oh my God!" Ginny shouted, but Harry didn't hear her. His thoughts were on Katrina.  
  
Harry stared down onto her. There was a knife in her hand and a slash across her neck which was swimming in a puddle of deep crimson blood. Harry shook her, not wanting to believe that she was already dead before he could save her.  
  
"No!" he cried out. "How could this happen, Katrina!"  
  
He continued to try to shake her awake until the combined force of Ron and Neville pulled him away. As Harry starred down at the crumbled remains of the girl that he had loved, he was not looking at Dumbledore's great niece, or a spy for Dumbledore's cause, or a powerful witch, Voldermort's daughter and the heir to Voldermort and the Death Eater's, no, he was looking at the girl who has looked so pretty standing on his doorstep to take him away from the Dursley's, the girl who he rescued from a bucking broomstick, the girl who was afraid of spiders but loved heights, the girl who could sing and play the guitar put could not pass any of the basic Herbology tests, the girl whom he had loved so much the entire time she was dating another guy, the girl who was obsessed with fashion, and who has kissed Harry liked she had never meant to ever let him go. She was Katrina Figg, the first person he had really loved and she would never awake.  
  
Harry couldn't help the tears that ran down his cheek as his friends drug him away to the castle, where someone would have to tell Albus Dumbledore that his most beloved niece had just killer herself and was lying on a cold patch of ground near Hagrid's vegetable garden.  
  
Months after the funeral people would probably tell Harry that it was a very lovely surface in a vain attempt to comfort Harry, but it would never work. Nothing could ever be beautiful to Harry again. The choir sang very pretty sons that echoed of the walls of the church, but Harry took no notice. Someone had taken great care in placing red roses on almost every conceivable surface of the church, but Harry didn't notice that either. The sky outside was a clear bright shade of blue and the sun was shinning warmer that even though it was February, you couldn't help but think it was spring. But Harry didn't notice the beautiful weather either. In his eyes there was no more beauty left in the world. The only thing that had been beautiful in his life was Katrina Figg and now that she was gone, he didn't know how he could stand to go on living, seeing the sun and the sky, the flowers, and hearing the soft pretty voices of the church choir.  
  
Harry sat on the bench at the very front of the church. On the bench, he sat among the people who had been the most important in Katrina's short life. Here he sat in between Dumbledore and Mrs. Figg. In the front row with him was Katrina's Aunt, her American muggle husband, and then Belinda and Brenda Parkerly who were both sobbing uncontrollably. They had been so close to Katrina, such good friends. How could they go on without her? Next was Professor Snape who looked very much alone. He had spent a great amount of time with Katrina and had been very fond of her. He had been the closest thing to a real dad she had known. He was her teacher, her mentor, her friend. Harry never thought he could feel sorry for Snape, but he did now. Snape looked broken. There was Arizona Brown and Drew Fordson, two of her best friends. Harry had a hard time even looking at Arizona. He did not look at all like himself. Normally, he reminded Harry of a handsome cross between Neville Longbottom and one of the Weasley twins, today he looked just as broken as Snape.  
  
Behind him was sitting Neville and Hermione with the Weasley family. He had seen the look on Percy's face when they had entered the church and it had made his skin crawl. Percy looked as if he has already died, as if he should be in the grave instead of Katrina. His eyes looked glazed over, and his face was sunk into his skull as if he had not slept, ate or drank in a long time. Perhaps he hadn't. Harry didn't know how hard Percy was grieving because he had been too wrapped up in his own pain. Percy had loved Katrina just as much as he had, and even though he was overprotective and too fast to commit to something Katrina was not ready for, Harry had admitting that Percy had not treated her as lovingly as he did. But when Percy had caught his eye earlier in the day when they were entering the church, it was scary. He stared at Harry, his eyes burning a whole in the back of his head, a pronounced scowl of hatred that Harry had never seen on Percy's face before.  
  
About an hour later, the funeral services were over and everyone was leaving to head back to Hogwarts where they would have a remberance wake for friends and family in Katrina's honor. Harry stood outside the church staring into nothing, not wanting to go. He had stood at her graveside as her coffin was lowered into the ground. He had watched Percy throw a bouquet of a dozen red long stem roses onto her grave. Percy had stood proud and tall, unflinching at the slight sound of the soft flowers hitting the cold surface of the closed coffin. Only one tear escape from his proud, determined eyes, and he did not pay any mind to it, Percy just let it roll on down as he turned away from the graveside and walked over to meet with his parents in the carriage they were taking back to Hogwarts.  
  
Hermione and Ginny must have seen the look on his face as he watched Percy with his ritual. Both girls threw their arms around him in a hug that was mean to comfort, but Harry took no comfort from it. Ron and Neville grabbed their girlfriend's arms and pulled them away to give Harry his time alone.  
  
"Leave him alone, you two," he heard Ron whisper. "Let him have his space."  
  
Harry felt eternally grateful to his best friend as he watched the four of them walk away. Hermione and Ginny may have the best of intentions and his best interest at heart, but he could not bear to listen to their attempts at consoling him one more time. It strained his heart to watch as they walked away; Hermione and Ron arm in arm, and Neville and Ginny holding hands. Harry was not jealous for his friend's happiness with each other. No, he just quietly remembered that he would never quite fit into that group ever again now that he had lost Katrina. The couples would be kind to him, and would certainly be the same blessed friend they had always been to him, but things were different now. They had all paired up, and now his pair was broken, and Harry knew things would not be the same in his life ever again.  
  
Harry walked over to one of the carriages. He would not ride with the Weasley family. Naturally, they all could not fit into one carriage but it both carriages either they would try to ease Percy's pain or they would talk about him and Harry could not bear to witness either. He knew the Weasley's were just as concerned about him, but Harry couldn't bear that concern either. Harry decided he would ride in the carriage with Arizona Brown and Drew Fordson when Albus Dumbledore laid a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Harry," he said, "I would like you to ride to Hogwarts with me. There is much that we must discuss alone."  
  
Dumbledore did not speak until the carriage began to move and sway into motion. It was just the two of them in the carriage and Harry was quite sure he knew which direction that their conversation would head.  
  
"Harry, I do not blame you for the death of my niece, but I must know the reasons that she took her own life. I must ask you to allow me to read and make copies of the letter she wrote to you so that I and my family can read it, and understand what happened with her," he calmly said.  
  
Harry sighed. "No, sir, I'm afraid I can't do that."  
  
"Oh," said the headmaster. "And why not?"  
  
"She wrote it to me, Professor, not to anyone else. It was addressed to me, and I don't think she would want anyone else to read her final thoughts but me. If she wanted you to read it, or anyone else, I think she would have said so. But it only had my name on it, and I am sorry, but I must do as I think she would want me to do and not give anyone else her note,"  
  
"I understand that you feel that this was her last wish and you must honor that, but, Harry, my niece was very important to me, and I need to know why she took her own life. I need to know if had anything to do with Voldermort."  
  
"Do you think that he forced her to do it, or possessed her, or maybe murdered her and made it look like a suicide?" he asked.  
  
"No, I do not think any of that is true, Harry, but I think that I know the reason why. She was my niece and a great source of love and pride for me. I have no children or grandchildren and my brother Aberforth had no children also. I had never felt neglected in that because of my students are so important to me, but the daughters and granddaughters of my sister are one my greatest joy in life. I have watched you more closely that you could ever imagine and protected you more often that you would ever know, so I know you very well, Harry, and I know that you and my niece cared very much for each other, and you would not be unloyal to her in death, but you must allow me to read that letter."  
  
"Professor, do you think that her suicide could have anything to do with me?" he asked as the carriage halted on the school grounds.  
  
"I had trained Katrina she was very small in all the greatest area of magic that I know. She had been trained by Professor Snape and by many great teachers at her American school. Her Aunt had taught her many incredible things being the powerful witch that she is and so has her grandmother. Other teachers at Hogwarts that I put great faith in have also taught her. Katrina was gift and she had the greatest potential. Being Voldermort's daughter, she was given great power through birth. Together we have used the Pensive to extract memories from her early childhood that she could never recall without its use. From these extracted thoughts, we have learned much about her past, and about Voldemort."  
  
"I know this already," said Harry.  
  
"Please let me explain, Harry. Although this will bring you no comfort, I think it is best that you know the truth," said Dumbledore. "When she was a very small child, Voldemort found a way to cast spells on her that would duplicate much of his own knowledge and magical abilities into her mind. When she was barely old enough to walk and talk her magical ability and knowledge was therefore powerful that most grown wizards. She could kill someone with the Avada Kedarva curse without putting any thought into it. She knew that materials needed for complex potions and could mix them together perfectly without any effort at all."  
  
A small smile of pride quickly flashed across the old man's worn face. "I'm sure you could guess that this made her Professor Snape's ideal student. He took great pleasure in teaching the very young child to make the most complex potions that she did not know through the magic of her father. And she always made them perfectly. Snape was also given the opportunity to privately teach her Defense against the Dark Arts. As you know, he is a former Death Eater so he has extensive knowledge on the subject. He has been a good tutor for her on the subject, but I have never given him the Dark Arts job because I fear if he surrounded himself with so much of it, it would be a temptation and a danger to him. Like giving a recovering alcoholic a job working at a brewery. Teaching Katrina to defend herself helped him, and it was great training for her. When Snape was a Death Eater, he was of Voldermort's top agents, so he knew Katrina as a baby and saw her with her parents. She recognized him when she saw him after we had taken her away, and was a comforting figure to her young self. She never trusted me, she had been taught to hate me. I gained her trust as she grew. Katrina had a great potential. We trained her to do a great number of extraordinary things. We taught her how to fight, and how to protect herself. And her mission was to protect you. That's what we had trained her for. We knew Voldermort would be back someday. She was supposed to keep you safe."  
  
A great sickness plagued his heart as Harry heard those words. It was Katrina's job to protect him. And she killed herself. What made her do that?  
  
"You must let me read the letter," said Dumbledore. "Her family and I need to know for our own personal reasons, and we almost know what it says for reasons of security. Her suicide most certainly had something to do with Voldemort, and it could affect your personal safety. I understand your moral dilemma, Harry, but you must allow me to read that letter."  
  
The wake in the Great Hall did not cheer Harry's sobriety. He knew that wouldn't. Harry couldn't take his eyes off of Percy who had been starring at Harry in a very dark fashion.  
  
"Mum says Percy's beside himself in grief." Ron said. "He hasn't eaten much lately. Mum is afraid he is going to get ill."  
  
At this, Harry excused himself from the table, determined not to meet Percy's eyes. Harry knew that it was time for him to give up Katrina's letter to Dumbledore, but he would do that in the next morning. He wanted to read it one more time before he could do that.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sorry, it's taken so long for me to update. I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as I can! 


	31. New Beginnings

Chapter 30

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Author's Note:

Well, this is the final chapter. I want to thank everyone who stuck by this fic and who reviewed. I know it really sucked at times but this was my first fan fic ever and I have learned a lot about what not to do in a fic and basically I did most of those things in this one. But I learned a lot about writing and had a lot of fun and I guess that's what counts! Anyway, thanks a lot! 

PS. If you have gotten this far and still think I own something then you need professional help!

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Harry laid in bed that night starring at the note. 

**_Harry,_**

**_By the time that you read this, I will be gone. I know you will hate me for this but have no other choice. I've made some really bad decisions in my life, Harry, and I've really screwed up. I can't go on living anymore. I'm a danger to you, our friends, my family, and to so many other people. This is not your fault, Harry or any of our friends fault. It's my fault and my fault alone. _**

****

**_You know who my father is. You can't imagine how awful it is to grow up knowing that. I didn't know my father very well, but I have always known that even though he was a very evil person, he loved me very much. I have always wanted to know what my parents were like, you would understand that. I don't care that my mother tried to kill me or my father was sadistic. They are still my parents and I wanted to know them. But I have been trained since childhood to be a moral person and a strong witch. I was trained to protect you because Dumbledore knew someday my father would return and he would want to kill you. I wondered about you before we ever met. I wondered what you were like, the boy who lived, the boy who destroyed my family even though my family destroyed yours. I had no love for you at the time. You were just a duty to me. Then once my father returned he approached me while I was still in the states. He wanted me to bring you to him so he could kill you once and for all. He knew that Dumbledore wanted m tot protect you. I was happy to meet my father, even if it was under such grim circumstances.  We spent some time together. He was kind to me. I could not see him as the evil person that Dumbledore made him out to be. He offered me power, but I already had my own and did not need any more. He offered me riches but they didn't tempt me. Then he offered me the only thing that I would never be able to refuse from him. He told me that if you were dead then he would be able to bring back my mother from the dead and we could all live together again. I agreed to bring you to him, Harry. I agreed to betray you. But I am a horrible person, at the time I didn't know you. You were just a faceless person. But then I met you and I fell in love with you. I couldn't hand you over to my father to kill you. I had betrayed you and Dumbledore, and at the same time I betrayed my father. I told him that I refused to let him kill you. He didn't hurt me but he was dangerously angry. He said that he would have to kill you no matter what I wanted, and it only made him madder because he knew how much I cared for you. By my being alive I am a danger to you. I am afraid that my father will use our relationship to get to you, I am afraid that he will posses me and then use my body to murder you. The only thing I can do is to take my own life. I am sorry; Harry, but I see no other way. I am ashamed of myself and I know that I am a danger to everyone I love. I put a sleeping potion in those candies. I wanted to kill myself tonight because I wanted to dance with you before I left this world. But I knew I had to do it tonight, I was afraid that if I waited too long you would see the pain written all over my face. Please do not hate me for this, I really feel that it is the only way. I love you; please don't ever forget that even though you probably hate me now. Please tell Percy that I still care very much about him too, I know that he will be heartbroken when he hears what I have done. Please tell Uncle Dumbledore and Severus that I am sorry that I betrayed them when they put so much hard work and dedication into me. Please tell my Grandmother, my aunt and uncle, and my cousins that I am sorry. I guess I truly am my mother's child. I really do belong in Slytherin after all, I suppose. Please make sure _****_Arizona_****_ and Drew will be okay. Tell them they are the best friends I could have ever asked for, and please give _****_Arizona_****_ my guitar. Tell Ron to be nice to Hermione and tell Neville to be good to Ginny. Tell Neville that I am sorry I was not a better Herbology student but it was very kind of him to tutor me as diligently as he did. Harry, I would like you to have Dite. Will you please take care of her for me? She is a very special bird even if everyone thinks she is ugly, I still love her. I am sorry, Harry. I love you._**

**_-Katrina_**

****

The next day he handed the not over to Dumbledore. "I don't want it back, Professor. I did some thinking last night and that's not the way I want to remember her. I want to remember the good things about her and not the dark side that I never guessed she had."

Then Harry walked to the graveyard, even though it was raining and he did not have permission to leave Hogwarts. 

"You were so beautiful and so kind." he said to Katrina's tombstone. "You seemed so perfect. I thought you were happy. I never would have guessed that there was such darkness inside of you. Why didn't you tell me, Katrina? I would have moved heaven and earth to help you. I don't care about Voldemort. Everyone makes mistakes. You thought you could have your family back, I don't blame you that. I don't know what I would do if someone promised me they could give me back my parents. I can understand the way that you felt, but what I can not understand is why you never told me. If you loved me, why didn't you tell me? I loved you so much; I would have done something to help you."

"If you loved her so much, you should have known." said a voice behind him. 

Harry spun around to see that the voice belonged to Percy Weasley. 

"Did you know?" he asked Percy.

"I knew." said Percy. "Of course I knew. How could I not know what she was going through? She confessed to me that Voldemort was her father, and he had asked her to give you to him so that you could be killed. I convinced her not to do it. I think part of her wanted to do it in the beginning. She desperately wanted parents in her life. But then she got to know you better and then she started to like you more and more, and see you in a light other than "her mission". She began to love you, and I lost her to you. I can't blame her. I am just a simpleton, and you are the Boy Who Lived. I'm not famous; I guess the competition beat me."

He chuckled darkly. "Yes, I knew all along what hell she was going through, but she pushed me away. She loved you. You, however, knew nothing. She didn't want you to know. It's the same as always, nobody ever wants to spoil your perfect innocent ignorance; nobody wants to ruin your peace of mind. Maybe if she had sacrificed your piece of mind, she wouldn't have felt as if she had to sacrifice her own life. It's your fault this happened Harry. I don't care what Dumbledore says. You should have known what she was going through. Loving her as much as you say that you do, you should have known what was inside her heart."

With that, Percy turned away leaving Harry to his own mixed up feelings. Harry didn't know what to say or to think. Was he respobible for Katrina's death? Probably not, Katrina was so stubborn that if she decided she had to do something, Harry doubted anything would stop her. But Percy was right about one thing. Harry should have known. Percy knew, and they had been broken up for months. Harry should have known. Maybe he could have saved her.

The next morning Harry woke up to find something under his pillow that he had  seen many times before, and a note in Katrina's handwriting. Somehow her necklace, the necklace that everyone wanted to take from her was in Harry's hands. He knew it hadn't been there the night before. He opened up the note to read that the reason the necklace had been so hunted because it a very very rare and powerful artifact. It gave the wearer the power to Apprate and Disapprate anywhere in the world including places like Hogwarts. Katrina had been using all her life to spy on him and to watch over him. It had belonged to Voldemort, and was passion onto her, and now it was Harry's. She wanted Harry to have it so that he could use it for his own safety, so Harry slipped it around his neck and tucked it under his robes. It made him feel very safe, although he wondered why Katrina didn't realize that Harry didn't know how to Apprate anywhere at all, but it made him feel content because it had belonged to her and now it was his. He slipped it inside his robes like Katrina had always done so that nobody else could ever see it. It would be his secret. He didn't give much thought to how it got to be under his pillow, he just decided that she must have put it there before the dance started and he had just now discovered it. In time to come, he would question that conclusion, but for now, he was content. 

The weeks drove on and soon it was summer time and Harry found himself in The Burrow eating dinner with the Weasleys. Harry liked being with the Weasleys because his home reminded him a lot of Katrina, he had to walk past her house everyday, so it was good to be at the Burrow, except for one thing. Percy. Percy kept giving him dark looks all the time, and Harry thought he looked as if would very much like to choke him. 

One night Harry tripped over one of Ron's schoolbooks as he headed into the kitchen. As he fell over, the necklace fell out of his shirt and hung down from his chest. Everyone gasped as they saw it because it was such a pretty thing, but Percy recognized and his face turned white with shock but quickly turned red with rage. 

"I know what that is!" he yelled. "That belonged to her! That's Katrina's necklace! I saw it on her a million times; she even let me wear it once. I know what it does! How do you get it, Harry! It should have gone to Dumbledore or one of her relatives!"

"She left it to me." Harry said meekly, he was feeling very taken back. 

"No." Percy said. "She would have never given it to you. You can't use. You can't Apprate! You! I know what happened now! You killed her, didn't you! You made her write that note and then you killed her so you could have that necklace!"

Percy!" cried Mrs. Weasley. "You are out of your mind! You don't know what you are saying. Harry! He would never!" 

"I know exactly what I'm saying, Potter, you murdered that girl so you could steal her necklace and I'm going to prove it! I know what powers that thing has! It's enough to drive anyone mad! You will pay, you will pay!" 

With that, Percy stormed upstairs to his room. He packed up his things and moved out. He would not stay at the house while Harry was there. He swore to prove that Harry was a murderer and Harry believed that Percy would find a way somehow to blame everything on him. There had been madness in his eyes that day at The Burrow. Word would get around. Katrina was popular. Everyone would think Harry was a murderer and there was little he could do about it.

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The End. 

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